


Prince Luke Organa: A New Hope

by lightningbisexual



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: F/F, F/M, I just want to see Prince Luke Organa okay, I'm not down with that y'all, Luke with anxiety, M/M, No Incest, Role Reversal AU, Twin Swap AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-03-29 17:16:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19024390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightningbisexual/pseuds/lightningbisexual
Summary: An AU where Leia was sent to Tatooine with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru and Luke was sent to Alderaan as the prince. It begins from where Luke is captured by the Empire in A New Hope. I follow more his story than Leia's because we all know she's going to be a badass on her own and I really want to see Luke grow up and learn to face his fears.





	1. Capture

The Empire had overtaken them so much faster than Luke expected. He had just been sent on this side mission to pick up the plans, he hadn’t expected them to be captured so quickly. They were already in a tractor beam, so there was no escape. All they could do now was try to make sure the plans made it to Alderaan. 

All Luke wanted to do was fall down and have an anxiety attack. He was just a prince, and a young one at that. He didn’t have the training to deal with this. 

As the troops prepared for battle, Captain Antilles directed Luke to a secluded part of the ship, an alcove that was far enough from the main entrance that he wouldn’t be easy to find in. 

“We’ll hold them off for you, your highness,” he told the young prince, his voice gruff. He was more focused on his job, less on protecting the prince. “Protect those plans however you deem necessary.”

Luke swallowed hard, glancing down at the data card clutched tightly in his fingers. What would he do with this now? How was he supposed to solve this absolute crisis? 

As Antilles left to join his men, Luke looked out the window of the ship, seeing a tan planet just outside. Tatooine, his mind supplied helpfully. He wasn’t good at emergencies, but he was a decent diplomat. He knew plenty about all the different planets in this area. Especially Tatooine, with his father desperate for Obi-Wan’s help. They were supposed to take him to Alderaan as well, but the attack on their ship made that nearly impossible. 

The sound of blaster fire instinctively made him duck, terror flashing across his face as he looked towards the doorway. There was no way he would be able to escape, not in these conditions. Even if he made it onto a pod, they would know. They could detect life forms on ships. 

A cold weight settled in Luke’s chest, fear and dread weighing down his heart. He wouldn’t be able to escape. He was going to be captured or killed by the Empire, maybe both. 

For a moment, he let the despair settle in, closing his eyes as a tear dripped down his cheek. He was never going to see his family again. He was going to die under the torture of the empire. He let out a choked sob, clapping a hand over his mouth. 

He pressed against the cold metal of the ship and took a deep breath, trembling. He had to get himself under control, he couldn’t let the fear overtake him, not now, not here. Yes, he was going to be captured. A shudder ran through his body. But, he couldn’t let the plans get recaptured with him. He had to get them to Alderaan. 

He wiped his eyes, standing to his full height and glancing around. Like fate, the R2 unit was just rolling nearby. That was the answer. 

“Artoo!” He hissed, gesturing for the droid to come over. He placed a gentle hand on it, taking a deep breath. “I need you to keep these safe, and record a message for me.” 

He slid the plans into one of R2’s storage units, and the droid beeped in affirmation. This droid was always adventurous, and Luke had the feeling he could get the job done where he couldn’t. He straightened his white clothing, customary for the prince, and mentally drafted the speech for a moment before recording. 

“General Kenobi. Years ago, you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.” 

Luke’s voice trembled only a bit as he delivered the message. For the most part, he sounded somewhat professional. But there was fear in his voice in the last few sentences. After all, he was facing his death now. Obi-Wan was the only chance for the Rebellion now. 

With a shuddering breath, he glanced over his shoulder at the entrance, checking for troops. There was only his old protocol droid, C3PO. He quickly switched off the recording, sending R2 to finish the job. 

“I’ll try to buy you time,” he told the little droid, touching him lightly on the dome. He was still terrified, but at least he had a plan now. He had to distract the troops long enough for R2 to escape, and then he had to avoid breaking under torture. The latter sounded worse than the former, so he opted to focus on finding a blaster so he could at least defend himself. 

As the droids went for the escape pods, Luke managed to find a blaster. He could hear men screaming as they died, and wanted to have a moment to grieve for them, but there was no time. He would have plenty of alone time to thank them for their sacrifices in prison. 

Hiding in a corner, he held the blaster close, prepared to fire. He did know how to use weapons. After all, Bail Organa wanted his son to be prepared in case something like this did happen. Unfortunately, he never expected it to happen when Luke was alone. 

“There he is!” A voice came from beside Luke, and he looked over to see stormtroopers standing in the entrance to the alcove. “Set your blaster for stun.” 

Luke leapt out, firing a killing shot at one of the troopers before turning to run. He knew it was futile, knew that he was doomed even before the paralyzing blast hit him. He collapsed to the ground, the blaster clattering to the ground and sliding away from his hand. Fear pounded in his veins, but the paralyzing agent gave him the time he needed to build up a brave facade. After all, he was a member of the Senate now. He had to use that to his advantage and pull on that persona to get him out of this. 

“He’ll be alright,” a stormtrooper said, walking over him and picking up the blaster. “Inform Lord Vader that we have a prisoner.” 

Lord Vader? Oh, that wasn’t good. A new level of fear made Luke want to cry all over again. Vader was the worst of the Emperor’s attack dogs. He had probably killed all of Luke’s remaining crew. He had met the Sith Lord once, and worked very hard after that to never have to talk to him again. The man was terrifying. 

He was listless in the grip of the stormtroopers, unable to move for several minutes. He couldn’t struggle as they put his wrists in binders and roughly searched him for the plans. They were patting him down for the third time when he gained enough feeling to elbow one in the helmet. 

“Watch it!” He snapped. “I’m a member of the Imperial Senate, not some common criminal!” 

The stormtroopers eased slightly at that, but they still watched him like hawks as they pushed him forward, marching him towards the front of the ship. 

As they walked, Luke put his shoulders back, raising his chin like he had seen his mother do. He was the Prince of Alderaan, and he had a reputation to maintain. If he even showed the slightest amount of the absolute terror inside him, he was doomed. Luckily, as they walked through the ship, they passed body after body after body. The sight made Luke furious. His men didn’t deserve to die like this, slaughtered so meaninglessly. The anger helped mask his fear, so perhaps he could stand up to the Sith Lord now. 

The fury was necessary, because when they turned a corner and saw the Dark Lord, Luke almost felt his resolve falter entirely. The man was at least a full head and shoulders taller than him, the harsh sound of his breathing filling the room. Just being near the man gave Luke the most peculiar form of fear, like he had met this man before and it didn’t turn out well. 

He summoned all his righteous anger and glared at Vader as best he could. 

“Lord Vader,” he snapped, narrowing his eyes. “I should have known. Only you would be so bold. The Imperial Senate will not sit for this, when they hear you’ve attacked a diplomatic-“ 

“Don't play games with me, Your Highness.” Vader’s voice was icy, impatient. Luke couldn’t help but be mildly amused that he was still calling him by his proper title. “You weren't on any mercy mission this time. You passed directly through a restricted system. Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you.”

Luke faked indignation as best he could, drawing on how absolutely insulted he was at this whole situation. He should be home, but no, he was stuck arguing with an evil cyborg. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied, leaning towards Vader. “I’m a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan!” 

“You’re a part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor!” Vader roared. “Take him away!”

Luke was roughly shoved by the stormtroopers behind him, and he almost fell, barely able to catch himself and follow the stormtroopers to a cell. As they walked onto the star destroyer, he took a deep breath, swallowing hard. Now came the hardest part. 

 

They interrogated him, of course. The standard questioning he could handle with ease. After all, he was a trained politician. Dodging questions and giving nonanswers with a straight face was something that he had extensive practice with. The men looked like they wanted to strike him, but they were always stopped by a superior officer. Evidently the Imperial Senate was still at play here, and they were afraid of pissing off other senators. 

After he effectively wasted a few hours by giving them endless lies, he was incredibly pleased with himself. Of course, the worst was still yet to come, but for the moment, they were leaving him alone in his cell. For that, he was grateful. 

He almost collapsed onto the cold metal bench at the back of his cell. Now that he was out of the view of the Empire officers, he could feel the tears pricking at the corner of his eyes again, but they never came. 

Luke had never been unable to cry before. There were times when he had forced himself to hold it back until he got somewhere alone, but he had always been able to let them out as soon as he was safe. 

Oh. 

Of course he couldn’t cry. He wasn’t safe yet. No matter how much better it was to be inside a cell away from the officers, he was still aboard the dreaded Death Star, and he was still far from really being safe. Perhaps it was a good thing, but it just left Luke feeling hollow and scared. 

He pushed himself towards the corner of the bench, curling up his legs to his chest. He knew what was coming next. He was going to be tortured, almost certainly. Would he be able to handle it? 

The Rebellion had been a part of his life ever since he was a child. He knew exactly how the Empire extracted information from their prisoners. Truth serum, combined with a healthy amount of torture to urge prisoners to spill secrets. Most intelligence operatives were trained to resist it, but Luke was a prince. He never expected to become more than a Senator, and now he was wishing that his father had put him through the pain of interrogation training. It would serve him well now.

If only he had someone there with him, someone to tell him what to do. He never learned to lead on his own. In the senate, he was one of many. On Alderaan, he was just a prince. He always had someone advising him, whether it was his father or one of the Rebellion generals. 

There was nothing Luke hated more than being alone. Even as a child, he stuck close to his parents. He knew that he was adopted, so perhaps that was part of the reason that he was so desperate to stay with them. Stars, he had become so interested in Senate matters because he practically grew up in Coruscant with his father. 

There were times when he was feeling lonely, like when his parents were busy with their own matters, especially those involving the Rebellion. Running a planet, dealing with a senate, and organizing a rebellion left very little time for the young boy at times. However, even at those moments, he didn’t feel entirely alone. There was a woman who visited him sometimes, a pale blue figure with flowers in her hair. When he cried out from nightmares, she was somehow always there, her hand brushing over his blonde locks in a gentle breeze to soothe him to sleep. 

Luke wasn’t entirely sure who she was, and he hadn’t seen her in a long time, but he couldn’t help but long for her to visit now, just so he wouldn’t be alone. 

 

For nearly a full day, Luke was alone in his cell. The woman with the flowers in her hair never visited, so his only company was the occasional officers that dropped off his food and his own anxious thoughts. He couldn’t tell how much time had passed, the lights were always on at full brightness. It made it hard to sleep. Luke suspected that was intentional, since a tired agent was more likely to accidentally let something slip. 

He sighed, leaning his head against the steel wall behind him. When would the Empire begin their interrogation? He had already been here for over a day, he was certain of that. Time was harder to manage in this box. 

The door to his cell opened, making him abruptly sit up straight, his blue eyes wide as Darth Vader himself entered the cell. 

“And now, your highness, we will discuss the location of your hidden Rebel base,” Vader said coldly. 

Luke opened his mouth to speak, but any words he could have said died in his throat when the sound of a slow beeping filled the room. His stomach dropped. An interrogation droid floated into the room, a hypodermic needle extending from one of its mechanical arms. 

He bit his lip hard to suppress the cry of fear rising in his throat. The Empire truth serum made people susceptible to suggestion. If he was under that, Vader could convince him that they were best friends and he had to share the location of the Rebel base with him. He could make him feel horrible pain, like he was about to die. He couldn’t do this, he couldn’t. 

Fear driven adrenaline helped him bolt for the door, but it slammed shut before he even made it a step. Vader caught him by the arm, his mechanical grip painful enough to leave a ring of bruises. Luke squirmed, knowing it was useless to struggle but too afraid to care. 

“No!” He begged. “Help! Please!” 

The two guards beside the locked door didn’t even blink. His cries meant nothing here. 

Vader held him still enough for the needle to pierce his shoulder, injecting a cold liquid into his arm. Luke’s struggles weakened, and Vader was easily able to toss him back onto the bench. 

For a moment, all Luke felt was an ache in his shoulder. He blinked, confused. Wasn’t the serum supposed to hit right...

His thoughts went hazy, dizziness overcoming him. Where was he? Was he home? He could feel the cold bench beneath him, but he wasn’t really aware of any other sensations. He couldn’t process any of his surroundings. 

“Luke,” the deep voice was vaguely familiar. Luke felt a sting of fear, but he wasn’t quite sure why. “I’m a Rebel spy, one of your friends. I need you to tell me where the Rebel base is so I can get back there.” 

Luke moaned softly, shaking his head. He wasn’t supposed to tell. He couldn’t tell them, even if they were a Rebel spy. He couldn’t. 

“Luke, please. I have information that could save your father’s life.” The voice was more frustrated now. 

The suggestion made Luke’s breath catch. He opened his mouth, but closed it quickly. He couldn’t, no he couldn’t tell. Bail Organa would happily die before giving away the location of the Rebel’s secret base.

“My father... wouldn’t,” he muttered, trying to blink through his hazy vision. Why couldn’t he see right? He could make out the form of a person wearing a rebel pilot uniform, but he couldn’t see their face. He couldn’t tell them. “I can’t.” 

For a beat, there was only silence. Luke shook his head, trying to clear it, but he couldn’t. Why couldn’t he think straight? Something was wrong. 

“You feel pain, Luke.” The deep voice sounded cruel, a dark anger behind their words. “Terrible pain like nothing you’ve ever felt.” 

Immediately Luke felt his entire body light up with excruciating agony. He screamed, falling to the side on the bench and shaking. Every muscle seized with pain, making it all but impossible to think about anything else. 

“No! No please!” He screamed, writhing on the bench. “Make it stop! Please, help me! Help me please!” His words broke off into a cry. 

“Tell me the location of the rebel base and it will stop!” The deep voice yelled over his screaming. 

Luke grit his teeth, moaning pitifully. He closed his eyes, wishing that this was just a horrible dream that he could wake up from. But the pain was endless. As he spasmed on the bench, he began to think that maybe telling this voice wouldn’t be so bad, if it just meant that the pain would end. No, no he couldn’t. It would be a betrayal of his father’s trust. 

Desperate for the strength to hold on, he reached out, not physically, but with his pain and need to keep this information safe. He needed help. 

Suddenly, as if in response to his cry, a warm feeling wrapped around him, easing the pain ever so slightly. It was just enough. Luke clung to the newfound strength that the warmth gave him like a lifeline. He would need it in order to keep the Rebellion’s secrets safe. 

There was still agonizing pain, which made him cry out and beg the voice to make it stop, but something gave him the strength to keep the location of the base safe. He screamed his voice to nothing, his body was exhausted from the shuddering pain, but he never gave Vader the truth. 

What felt like hours passed. The pain made it even more difficult to have a sense of time. It was seemingly endless. Luke was almost grateful when he passed out, gratefully embracing the sweet relief of unconsciousness. 

He woke up alone in his cell, likely much later. Trying to sit up proved painful. All of his muscles were sore, and he was almost too weak to even lift his arms fully. He wouldn’t be standing for awhile. He was still drenched in sweat, his blonde hair turned dark where it plastered against his forehead. Likely he smelled worse than the Imperial garbage disposal. 

He moaned softly, rolling over onto his side. Everything ached, every movement difficult. 

His mind was still fuzzy, but all of his senses seemed to have returned to him. He tried to think back to the interrogation, struggling to recall exactly what had happened. They had injected him with the truth serum, but he didn’t talk. 

A shot of adrenaline went through him, and he sat upright. A flare of pain accompanied the movement, but he ignored it in favor of the absolute giddiness rising up in his chest. 

Somehow, Luke had resisted the truth serum. He hadn’t given up the location of the Rebel base. How was that even possible? He knew from his meeting with the Rebellion that even the best of spies wouldn’t be able to resist telling the truth under that serum; it was just that powerful. Why had he been able to hold back? 

Something had helped him. That warm presence that had helped him while he was in pain, it had given him the strength to avoid telling Vader the truth. He hadn’t heard of this before, not from his father. 

Luke wracked his brain, trying to figure out what had helped him. There were stories of this kind of thing, people who found strength from different places in life. In fact, it was very similar to the old stories of the Republic. 

He straightened, his eyes going wide. It was the stories of the Jedi. They were able to draw on some kind of power, the Force, to help them do all sorts of mystical things. Darth Vader used a lot of the same powers that the Jedi were said to have. Now it was all coming back to him. He used to think that they were just fairytales, old stories of the Republic. It was the whole meaning behind the phrase “May the Force be with you.” 

Luke hadn’t ever really thought too much about the Force. After all, there were far more physical aspects of the world that demanded his attention far more. But now, he might be someone who was able to access the Force like that. What did that mean for him? He didn’t know anything about this, should he learn? 

Obi Wan Kenobi was a Jedi, right? Luke remembered his father briefly mentioning that. On the off chance that he was rescued, maybe he could talk to the old man about it. He could help him make sense of all this. 

Luke wrapped his arms around his stomach, pressing against the wall behind him. There was so much for him to think about, and far too much time to do it. 

 

The next day (Luke assumed) two stormtroopers arrived at his cell alongside Darth Vader. He didn’t stand, he still felt too weak. His entire body was exhausted from the serum’s effects. 

“Here for another round?” He asked, trying to smile. Vader had seen enough weakness from him yesterday, but he was still trying to draw on his royal pride as a way to defy the Sith Lord. No matter what happened to him, he was still the Prince of Alderaan. He had to represent his family and his planet well. He would make his parents proud. 

“We have a different form of interrogation for you today, your highness,” Vader replied. There was a note of warning in his voice, one that made Luke’s stomach twist in fear, which he had to struggle to keep off his face. 

Before he could fire back his own commentary, the stormtroopers forced his hands into binders and hauled him to his feet. Luke winced as their hands closed over the bruises from yesterday’s interrogation. Dizziness washed over him as he struggled to his feet. Even with the stormtroopers gripping his arms, it was still difficult to stand. 

They rapidly pulled him through the halls, Darth Vader always uncomfortably close behind him. The mechanical sound of his breathing made the hairs on the back of Luke’s neck stand up on end. He tried to ignore it, focusing instead on straightening his spine, throwing his shoulders back, trying to adopt a slightly modified version of the royal walk that he had learned since he was a child. It used to come naturally to him, but right now he had to force it past the exhaustion in his bones. 

When they reached the end of the next hall, Luke was suddenly very happy that he had tried to get his royal walk back. Grand Moff Tarkin was standing there, his ice blue eyes cold as they fixed on the young prince. Revolusion twisted Luke’s stomach. This man was one of the highest leaders in the Empire, who was well known for his cold indifference to any amount of civilian deaths, so long as it served his own purposes. 

“Governor Tarkin,” Luke said as he approached, leaning towards the sarcastic tendencies that his father had worked so hard to train out of him. “I should have expected to find you holding Vader’s leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board.” 

In reality, the man smelled like lilacs, but Luke wouldn’t be passing up the opportunity to insult both of the Empire leaders at once. Snark ran in the Organa family. It was usually a bit more subtle, but Luke didn’t inherit his father’s cool patience. 

“Charming to the last,” Tarkin said drily. He grabbed Luke’s chin, forcing the prince to look up at him. “You have no idea how hard I found it signing the order to terminate your life.” 

Luke scoffed, pulling back from Tarkin’s grip. “I’m surprised you found the courage to take the responsibility yourself.” 

“Prince Luke, before your execution I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now.” Tarkin looked darkly pleased, his skeletal face nearly glowing with pride. 

“The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers,” Luke warned, directly quoting something he had once heard his father say to the Senate. Unexpectedly, he sounded confident, assured of himself. I sound like my father, he distantly realized with some surprise. 

“Not after we demonstrate the power of this station,” Tarkin said, gesturing to the machinery within the control center. Then he turned back to Luke, a ghost of a smile on his face. “In a way, you have determined the choice of the planet that'll be destroyed first. Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base, I have chosen to test this station’s destructive power on your home planet of Alderaan.” 

Luke recognized the blue and green of his home immediately. His breath caught, fear filling his heart with ice. He moved towards Tarkin, panic in his voice. 

“No!” He protested, looking up at the Grand Moff. “Alderaan is peaceful, we have no weapons–”

“You would prefer another target?” Tarkin whirled on him, making him shrink back slightly. “A military target? Then name the system!” He pressed forward, backing Luke right into Darth Vader. “I grow tired of asking this, so it will be the last time. Where is the Rebel base?”

Luke’s breathing quickened. He felt so trapped between the two taller men, fear and helplessness making him panic further. How was he supposed to make this decision? Alderaan was his home, his people. They were just ordinary people, living on a peaceful planet that had been thankfully untouched by the Empire’s hands, until now. 

Could he betray the Rebellion for this? What should come first for him, his planet or the Rebellion? He was both a Prince and a member of the Rebellion, but he had never expected to have to choose between the two like this. What could he do? He stared at his home for a moment, his heart squeezing. He couldn’t let anything happen to it, even if it meant sacrificing a Rebel base. 

“Dantooine,” he admitted softly. He looked at the ground, hating himself for his weakness. “They’re on Dantooine.” 

There was a rebel base on Dantooine, but it wasn’t their main base. It was still a planet, an occupied one, but he knew for a fact that it was significantly less populated than Alderaan. He was sacrificing an innocent world, something he knew would haunt him, but he had to protect his people. 

“There, you see Lord Vader, he can be reasonable.” Tarkin sounded disgustingly smug, which Luke tried to ignore. But that was blown out of the water by his next words. “Continue with the operation, you may fire when ready.”

Luke’s head snapped up, paling with shock. “What?” He demanded, his calm politician voice disappearing into a shriek. 

“You’re far too trusting,” Tarkin said smugly, shooting Luke a condescending look. “Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration. But don’t worry. We will deal with your Rebel friends soon enough.”

“No!” Luke screamed. His anger and fear surged, and he moved towards Tarken, a part of him intent on going after the man himself to stop this from happening, even if the rational side of his mind knew it was impossible. Either way, Vader grabbed him by the neck of his cloak and yanked him backwards, nearly choking him in the process.

It was futile. The mechanics around them whirred, and a blinding green ray flashed. In a split second, Alderaan was transformed from a beautiful blue planet into an explosion. It was horrifyingly beautiful, so hard to believe that this firework against the stars was his childhood home. 

He wanted to believe that it was fake. He wished that it was just a trick, a computer generated image designed to break him, but he knew that wasn't the truth. He could feel Alderaan die, as if he was on the planet itself, hearing the screams of his people and feeling their pain as they were blasted out of existence.

Luke’s knees gave out as dizziness washed over him, and Vader let him drop to the ground. He couldn’t speak, he could barely breathe. Shock made it impossible to really process what had just happened. His home had been blown away. 

He was distantly aware as the senior officers moved away, only vaguely realized that stormtroopers were dragging him to his feet and urging him down the hallway. His feet moved without the help of his mind, which wasn’t even fully understanding of the situation.

They dumped him in his cell, and he just collapsed on the grate floor where they left him, unable to move. 

Alderaan was gone. His people, his friends, maybe even his parents, all gone. The lakes that he used to swim with his friends, the palace, his childhood bedroom, all blown into pieces. There was nothing left of his home. His entire world was gone. 

Luke couldn’t even find the strength to move himself to the metal bench before he curled up on his side, wishing that he could just disappear into nothingness. He wished that this was just another terrifying nightmare that he could wake up from, and then he could go to his parents and curl up beside them and relish the feeling of being beside them for as long as he possibly could. 

A part of him always thought that Bail Organa would be the king forever. He always looked up to his father, and would have been more than happy to serve as his prince and a senator. He was a good man, and an even better leader. Luke never felt like he could live up to that legacy, and a part of him wished that he would never have to. 

In a left handed way, he was getting his wish. He would never be the king of Alderaan. He wasn’t even the prince now. He was nobody. His entire identity circled around representing Alderaan and his family. He had tried to be brave in the face of Vader and the other Imperial officers so that he could represent Alderaan and make his father proud. Without it even existing, who was he? 

 

Somehow he ended up curled up against the wall on the bench, though he wasn’t quite sure how he ended up there. He felt empty and hollow, hopeless. It was almost like he was floating, now that he didn’t even have a sense of Alderaan’s dark earth beneath his feet. What would happen to him without that ground to tie him down?

When the stormtrooper entered his cell, he dully glanced up, his blue eyes empty as he waited to be cuffed or ordered around again. He didn’t really care what they did to him now, so he didn’t even have the strength to come up with a sarcastic comment. Oddly enough, the stormtrooper didn’t say anything either, but just stared at him, his blaster hanging at his side. 

“Unless you need something, I would really rather be left alone,” he told the stormtrooper. Maybe it once could have been a snarky comment, but now the words were exhausted and sad. All the life was gone from them. 

“What?” To Luke’s surprise, it was a woman’s voice that came from beneath the helmet. “Oh, this stupid helmet.” 

Then she took off the helmet, revealing a beautiful young woman. A long dark braid fell from the helmet as she took it off, swinging over her shoulder. Luke incredulously met her fierce brown eyes, beyond confused with this whole situation. 

“I’m Leia Skywalker,” she said, tossing the helmet aside. “I’m here to rescue you.” 

Luke shot to his feet with a strength that he didn’t realize he still had, his blue eyes snapping wide and filling with hope. He was being rescued? Someone finally came for him? A rebellious part of his mind hoped that his father had been the one to send the rescue team. Finally, there was someone here to protect him, keep him from being alone. 

“You’re who?” He asked, frowning. He thought he knew most of the Rebellion’s rescue teams, but the name Leia Skywalker meant nothing to him. 

“I’m here to rescue you,” she repeated, a note of condensation in her voice, as if he was stupid for not hearing her before. He understood that this was a high tension situation, but could she stand to be a little more patient? He had just finished getting tortured, after all. “I’ve got your R2 unit, I’m here with Ben Kenobi.” 

“Ben Kenobi!” Thank goodness, someone had received the message from his R2 unit. He wasn’t a failure, he had actually kept the plans safe. “Where is he?” 

“Come on!” She ordered instead, gesturing for him to follow her out of the cell. 

He immediately followed, which wasn’t very princely. This girl, who certainly wasn’t any older than he was, was giving him orders and clearly expecting him to follow them without question. Why couldn’t he be confident like that? 

It rapidly appeared that her confidence was misplaced when explosions came from the end of the hallway. The only exit from the detention area had stormtroopers swarming the elevator exit like ants to sugar. 

“Can’t get out that way,” a tall man called, dressed in a stormtrooper’s uniform. He jogged over to them, followed by what appeared to be a Wookie. 

“It looks like you’ve cut off our only escape route,” Luke snapped bitterly. He had hoped this would be an efficient, quick rescue, but it was seeming like Obi Wan had just picked up a couple random idiots and trusted them to help with the escape. His hope was quickly deflating. 

They pressed against the walls to avoid being shot, Leia pushing Luke behind her protectively. Even as they engaged in the shootout, the taller man shot Luke a glare. 

“Maybe you’d like it back in your cell, your highness,” he said sarcastically. 

Luke straightened indignantly. Who the hell was this scoundrel, assuming that he could talk to a prince like that? Was this his rescue? 

“Han, this isn’t the time!” Leia snapped. She gestured shortly for him to cover her while she pulled out a comlink transmitter. “Threepio! We've been cut off! Are there any other ways out of the cell bay? What was that? I didn't copy!” 

The four of them huddled in the alcoves of the hallway as hot blaster fire flew back and forth. The air was already growing smoky, and the chances of their survival lessening by the minute. 

“There’s no other way out,” Leia confirmed, putting away the comlink. 

“I can’t hold them off forever!” Han yelled over the blaster fire, shooting down the hall at the stormtroopers. “Now what?” 

“Did you not have a plan to get out when you came in?” Luke demanded. What the hell was this rescue? Didn’t anyone know what they were doing? Leia seemed confident in herself, but it didn’t seem like she really knew what she was doing either. 

“She’s the brains, sweetheart,” Han said, nodding to Leia. 

“Well it’s obvious you’re not,” Luke muttered. 

Leia’s eyes scanned the area around them, settling on a panel beside Han’s feet. She grinned, turning the blaster towards him and blowing in the wall. 

Han yelped, the sound surprisingly high in a way that made Luke almost smile, in spite of the situation that they were stuck in. It seemed that the big tough scoundrel could be as easily scared as anyone. 

“What the hell are you doing?” 

“Follow me!” She ordered, jumping into what Luke suddenly realized was a garbage chute. That was her plan? 

The three remaining stared for a moment before the blaster fire reminded them of the perilous situation. Evidently Leia’s confidence was closer to a recklessness. If Luke wasn’t mildly convinced that she was crazy, he would be impressed. 

“You next, your highness,” Han ordered. 

While Luke hated that his life had come to this, he didn’t hesitate. Anything was better than staying in this detention center. If there was even a slight chance that they could escape through the disgusting Empire garbage, he would take it. He took one last breath of fresh (albeit smoke filled) air before diving into the darkness of the garbage chute.


	2. A Rescue, Of Sorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We work our way through a mildly disastrous escape of the Death Star

Luke was battered by the walls of the garbage chute for a split second before he was free falling into a mountain of garbage. He splashed into what he dearly hoped was water, and surfacing as quickly as he could, sputtering for air. Stars, it reeked down here. 

The Wookie and Han fell down shortly after he did, the smuggler screaming the whole time. Luke rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. 

Leia was moving along the walls of the room, her blaster raised and ready as she searched for a way out. The Wookie was struggling to open a hatch off the the side, but even his massive strength didn’t seem to be enough. 

“Oh! The garbage chute was really a wonderful idea,” Han announced loudly. He sounded almost as irritated as Luke felt. “What an incredible smell you’ve discovered. Let’s get out of here, Chewie, get away from there.” 

As Chewie backed away, he raised his blaster to fire at the hatch.

“No, wait!” Leia tried to say, but he was already firing the blaster. 

The blaster didn’t do any damage to the hatch, the red bolt just ricocheted around the room wildly, making everyone duck for cover. It grazed Luke’s leg, making him yell and almost fall. He really didn’t need more injuries, but his rescuers were apparently too idiotic to rescue someone without wounding them further. 

“Will you forget it?” Leia shouted, her eyes blazing with anger. “I already tried that, it’s magnetically sealed.” 

“Put that thing away!” Luke ordered, leaning on the garbage for support and clutching the shallow burn on his leg. “You’re going to get us all killed!” 

“Absolutely, Your Worship,” Had drawled, managing to make the title sound like an insult. “Look Leia, I had everything under control until you led us down here. It’s not going to take them long to figure out what happened to us.” 

“It could be worse,” Leia said, shrugging. 

As if in response to her words, a low groan echoed throughout the room, inhuman and terrifying. Even Chewie cowered against the walls, while Leia and Han stood ready, clutching their blasters tightly. Luke desperately wished that he had a blaster to work with, he felt so helpless like this. Everyone had some form of defense but him. 

“It’s worse,” Han said unnecessarily. 

“There’s something alive in here.” Leia sounded absolutely certain, but Han waved a dismissal hand. 

“It’s your imagination, kid.”

“Something moved past my leg!” Leia protested, glaring hard at the dark water as if she could scare away the creature with her ferocity alone. “Look, did you see that?” 

Before anyone could respond or even look, Leia was yanked beneath the murky water with a short cry. 

“Leia!” Luke and Han shouted together, rushing over to the spot where she disappeared. There was no sign of her for a long moment. Fear seized Luke’s heart. She was rescuing him, and she could have died as a result. 

Suddenly, she surfaced, gasping and thrashing wildly. Luke was almost relieved until he saw the slimy tentacle wrapped around her throat and legs. 

“Leia!” He yelled, wishing that he could do more to help.

“Blast it!” She ordered, trying to hit it with her fist to no avail. “My gun’s jammed!”

“Where?” Han looked worried, even fearful for her sake, his eyes rapidly scanning over the dark water to find a place to shoot. 

“Anywhere!” 

Leia was yanked back under with a yell. Luke was going to call for her again, but another groan echoed throughout the room. This time, it didn’t sound like an inhuman creature. It sounded mechanical, and Luke could have sworn that he saw the walls move slightly, shifting the garbage piles closer to the middle of the room. After that, it was all deadly silent for a few moments. For a terrifying second, Luke was absolutely sure that they had lost one of the only competent people that they had. 

With another splash, Leia suddenly surfaced, freed of the monster that had taken her. She gasped for air, scrambling to her feet with Han’s help. 

“What happened?” He called, relief evident in his tone. He was really glad that nobody else was dying for him. 

“I don’t know!” She said, coughing and shaking her head. “It just let me go and disappeared!” 

“I’ve got a very bad feeling about this,” Han said, looking around uneasily. 

Suddenly, the walls started moving towards them, making everyone yell and scramble to the middle of the room. Oh wonderful, it wasn’t just a garbage container. It was a compactor as well. 

“Don’t just stand there!” He yelled, grabbing one of the long metal poles nearby. “Try and brace it with something, help me!” 

He was still weakened from the truth serum, and he couldn’t lift it on his own, but he tried. Han, proving to be helpful for once in his life, moved over and helped him lift it. But even as they tried to brace the walls, even the large metals beams snapped against the pressure of the powerful walls. 

Leia had opted for a different method, calling for Threepio desperately. She yelled into the comlink, telling Threepio to shut down all the garbage compactors on their level, but he wasn’t responding. 

Luke struggled to climb over the layers of trash being shoved on top of them, but in his weakened state, he couldn’t. He made a sound of frustration, his eyes burning. 

“Get to the top, you’re going to get buried!” Han yelled at him, moving over to where he was. 

“What do you think I’m trying to do?” He demanded, his face strained with the effort of trying to escape the trash that seemed to tug him downwards like quicksand. 

Luke, Han, and Chewie struggled to brace the walls, inevitably being pushed towards each other. It didn’t seem like there was any hope, but Leia was ordering C3PO to shut down all the compactors through the comlink. He was beginning to doubt that they would ever be able to get them shut down before they were completely crushed. 

“One thing’s for sure. We’re all going to be a lot thinner!” Han said grimly, his voice strained from the effort. 

We’re all about to die, and he’s still cracking one liners? Luke thought, almost laughing. As irritating as he found the smuggler, he almost respected Han’s ability to be sarcastic in the most perilous of situations. It was a little ray of light in very bleak circumstances. It gave him a little of the strength he needed to keep himself from just letting the garbage and despair drown him. 

Just as the walls were about to start crushing them entirely, the walls stopped. For a split second, everyone just looked around, unable to process the situation around them. Did the walls really stop? Were they safe? Once they realized that yes, they were saved from death, cheers and screams of joy erupted from everyone, the ecstatic cries echoing throughout the narrow chamber. 

Luke laughed, his bones turning to jelly with relief. He had to lean against the wall to stay on his feet, but he was smiling. Maybe not all their hope was lost just yet. 

 

They eventually escaped the slime of the garbage, climbing out into an empty hallway. Leia and Han changed out of their soaked stormtrooper uniforms, but Luke had nothing other than his ruined clothing. Once, the outfit had been a beautiful white set of Alderaanian robes, regal and clean, but they were almost in shreds after his capture, torture, and almost rescue. Not to mention that he was wet and smelled like garbage. The euphoria of not dying had faded, just leaving him miffed about the whole situation. At least Leia had given him her stormtrooper utility belt, claiming it was too big for her waist. 

Chewie suddenly growled and scurried away from the opening. A tentacle began reaching through, the monster from before seeking out a new victim. Evidently the Wookie was a little jumpier than he let on. 

“Where are you going?” Han demanded. He stalked over to the door, raising the blaster to shoot the monster. Luke reached out a hand to stop him, shaking his head. 

“No wait, they’ll–”

Shaking him off without too much effort, Han fired half a dozen shots into the chamber, forcing the monster to retreat. The sound of the blaster was deafening, and echoed down the halls of the base. 

“–hear,” Luke finished pointlessly. He glared up at the smuggler, his blue eyes shining with anger. It was like he wanted to invite stormtroopers to come after them. “Look, I don’t know who you are, or where you came from, but from now on, you do as I tell you, got it?” 

Luke had spent the last three days a prisoner, completely subject to the whims of men who tortured him. He was not going to sit here and let this idiot smuggler tell him what to do and make stupid decisions that would get them all killed. He may or may not be a prince any longer, but he needed that royal persona right now. It would keep his rescuers from realizing that he was honestly about to fall apart at any moment, and hopefully it would keep them alive long enough to escape. 

Han looked stunned by the command, which Luke was somewhat pleased by.

“Look, Your Worshipfulness, let’s get one thing straight! I take orders from one person! Me!” he snapped following Luke as he walked down the hall. The commands seemed to piss him off, which was certainly a win in Luke’s book. 

He scoffed, brushing a drying strand of blonde hair from his face. “It’s a wonder you’re still alive.” He pushed past the Wookie, irritated with being stuck behind the much taller creature. “Would someone get this big walking carpet out of my way?” 

For a moment, Luke was worried they wouldn’t follow him. After all, even at his most arrogant royal, he never really had the confidence to command a room the way that his father did. But he must have faked it really, really well, because he could hear the rest of the group following him. He didn’t look back, his chin raised as he stalked forward, but he allowed himself a small smile. Maybe he did have that commanding presence in him somewhere. 

“No reward is worth this,” Han muttered behind him, which made him grin. 

After hurrying down the hall for some time, they finally reached a window. It was looking out over a hangar, where a ragged old ship rested. It certainly wasn’t an imperial ship. 

“There she is,” Han said, his voice almost fond as he came up beside Luke at the window. He looked so proud of that piece of junk. 

“See-Threepio, do you copy?” Leia asked, speaking into the comlink. 

“For the moment,” Luke’s old protocol droid’s voice came over the comlink, making him smile. He was glad that anxious old droid had escaped the attack on the ship. “We’re in the main hangar across from the ship.” 

“We’re right above you, stand by.” Leia put away her comlink. 

“You came in that thing?” Luke asked skeptically, looking down at the ship. He sized Han up once more. “You’re braver than I thought.” The unspoken ‘because that thing doesn’t look like it could jump to lightspeed without shattering apart’ hung in the air between them. 

Han only took a moment to shoot him a glare before telling him, “Come on.”

They all hurried down the hallway. Something was off to Luke. They hadn’t been stopped yet. The halls hadn’t been flooded with stormtroopers, alarms weren’t going off, but the Empire surely must have known that they were wandering around the base. Why wasn’t there an alert sent out? The Empire was more competent than this. 

As if the world was listening to his thoughts, at the next corner they rounded, there was a group of stormtroopers, who seemed as surprised to run into all of them as they were. Everyone stopped for a split second. 

“It’s them! Blast them!” The stormtrooper in the lead ordered. 

Han instantly drew his pistol, charging and firing at the troops. They began running from the admittedly insane dedication that the man had to kill all of them. Han chased after them, shortly followed by Chewie. 

“Get back to the ship!” Han yelled, sprinting after the retreating stormtroopers with Chewie at his side. 

“Where are you going?” Luke shouted back, exasperated. Why was this idiot smuggler dead set on getting them killed? “Come back!”

It was useless. Han was already around the corner, yelling like an idiot as he chased after stormtroopers. And here Luke had assumed that Chewie was the loud one. Clearly the Wookie was there to keep Han alive. Luke and Leia stared after them, absolutely stunned horror in their eyes.

“Is he an idiot?” Luke asked incredulously. 

“A little bit,” Leia admitted. 

They took off, running through the halls of the ship. They made a surprisingly efficient team, turning corners and blasting people left and right. It was like they knew exactly what the other was going to do every time they did it. Leia was in the lead, since she had the blaster. Besides, Luke was slower, with his weakened state and the leg wound. 

Leia ran through a doorway and almost off the edge of a walkway. There was a seemingly endless shaft ahead of them, like a bottomless pit. The bridge was retracted, and Leia barely stopped before falling off the edge. Luke grabbed her arm, tugging her backwards so she didn’t fall. 

“We must’ve taken a wrong turn,” Leia said, cursing as she looked around worriedly. 

Blaster fire exploded from behind them, followed by oncoming stormtroopers. Luke dove for the mechanism on the door as Leia shot at them. The hatch door slammed shut. He frantically searched for a lock, something to keep the door shut, but couldn’t find one. He flinched as the blaster fire continued, shaking the door. 

“There’s no lock!” He told her. 

She pulled him away and promptly blasted the entire control panel, leaving it a charred and smoky mess. Well, that was one solution. 

“That oughta hold it for a while,” she said, nodding firmly. 

“Not to point out the problem here, but I think you also just blasted the controls for the bridge.” While Luke appreciated Leia’s bravery and her ability to make quick decisions on her toes, it was feeling like she wasn’t entirely good at thinking her decisions through. 

Leia responded with a curse word that would have made Luke’s father faint, making Luke raise his eyebrows. Her eyes scanned the area around them, looking for anything that could be used to help before widening suddenly. 

“Get back!” She snapped, shoving him into the corner where the controls used to be. Blaster fire hit the wall right next to where his head had been. “There’s two of them on the bridge above us.” 

Being pushed against the wall made his belt dig into his back, giving him an idea. “Cover us for a second, I might have a way across!” 

He rummaged through the utility belt, finding a grappling hook with a thin nylon rope attached. Leia shot at the stormtroopers above them, but the door behind them was very slowly beginning to open, reminding them that there was danger on both sides. 

Luke desperately threw the grappling hook, praying that it would catch. Despite the fact that he had never tried something like this before, it somehow managed to catch. There was no time to test how solid it was, because Leia had already grabbed hold of it and thrown them off into space. He bit back a yelp as they swung across, trying not to look at the seemingly endless beneath them. 

Miraculously, they made it to the other side alive. All Luke had to do was detach the rope, and Leia tugged him along after like nothing had even changed. How did none of this even faze her? 

By the time they caught up with Han and Chewie, hiding in a alcove near the ship, Luke was exhausted. His leg ached, though it thankfully wasn’t bleeding, as blaster fire usually cauterized wounds. But his entire body was still greatly weakened by the torture, and he hadn’t eaten properly since Alderaan’s destruction. He was sweaty and pale, something that Han definitely noticed when they arrived. The pirate’s eyes looked him up and down suspiciously, so Luke tried to slow his breathing a little, pretending like he was just casually leaning against the wall, rather than needing the support for a moment. For having such short legs, Leia could really run. 

“What kept you?” Han asked, frowning down at the brunette. 

“We ran into some old friends,” she said dismissively, her eyes on the ship. “Is the Falcon all right?” 

“Seems okay, if we can get to it,” Han replied. “Just hope the old man got the tractor beam out of commission.”

For some reason, the stormtroopers moved away from the ship, all heading over to one of the other doors. Luke frowned. It was stupid for them to leave that open, it would give everyone on this side of the hanger free and easy access to the ship. Why would they do that?

Han had no such hesitation. “Now’s our chance! Go!” He said, gesturing for them to head over to the ship. Luke followed, only because he was this close to freedom and he wasn’t about to lose any possible chance of escape. Everyone hurried to the ship, even the droids emerging from another doorway. Luke had just reached the ramp with Han right behind him when they heard Leia’s yell. 

“No!” 

The sound echoed throughout the hangar, and the stormtroopers turned and began to fire at them. Beyond the white suits of armor, he could see Vader poking at an empty brown robe on the ground. It must’ve been Ben Kenobi, by the way that Leia had reacted. Even now, she was shooting at the stormtroopers with deadly aim, a blazing fury on her face. His heart squeezed. He was sorry that the man had died rescuing him, and even more so that Leia had clearly lost someone important to her, but they had to go. 

“Leia, it’s too late, come on!” He yelled, holding onto the ship for support. He understood the pain of loss all too well, but Chewie and the droids were already on the ship. 

“Blast the door!” Han shouted, and Leia immediately did. It closed the doors where Vader was, which Luke was grateful for. They wouldn’t have a chance if the Sith Lord came after them. In spite of that, he was still miffed that even the smuggler could apparently give orders better than he could. 

He wanted to drag her onto the ship himself, despite the fact that he most definitely didn’t have the strength; that girl was a powerhouse. Before he could even try, Han was pushing him up the ramp. He almost stumbled and fell, unprepared to be abruptly pushed into the ship, but he caught himself. Luckily, Leia ran up after them shortly afterwards. He breathed out a sigh of relief as he collapsed onto a nearby bench, grateful to at least be sitting down. They were far from safe, but at least now they had a chance.

Leia and Han immediately prepared for a fight, manning the guns and shooting down the defensive sentries. To Luke’s surprise, they actually managed to get out clean. Han grinned at the prince as he left his gunning station, pulling off his gloves and sitting on the table far too close, in Luke’s opinion. He regarded the smuggler with a less than impressed facial expression. 

“Not a bad bit of rescuing, huh?” He said smugly, tossing his gloves aside and crossing his arms as he looked down at Luke. “You know, sometimes I even amaze myself.”

“I can’t imagine that’s difficult,” Luke responded, rolling his eyes. “Besides, they let us go. It’s the only explanation for the ease of our escape.”

He had figured that out while Leia and Han had been fighting off the other ships. He knew how efficient the Empire was, and all their running, abandoning of posts, and exceptionally horrendous aim all pointed to the same thing: Vader wanted them to escape. And the only reason for that was so they could lead them right back to the Rebel base. Hopefully, the plans that R2 had would be enough to defeat them by the time they arrived. 

“Easy?” Han repeated, raising an eyebrow. “You call that easy?”

“They’re tracking us.”

“Not this ship.”

Luke rolled his eyes. How exceptionally stupid was Han that he really believed that they were getting off that easily? Was he really too arrogant to even consider the possibility that his precious piece of junk was untrackable? He considered telling him as much, but he was tired. 

“At least the information in Artoo is still intact,” was all he said. 

“What’s so important?” Han pressed. “What’s he carrying?” 

“The technical readouts of that battle station,” he answered. “I only hope that when the data is analyzed, a weakness can be found. It's not over yet.”

Han stood, shaking his head. “It is for me! Look, I ain’t in this for your revolution, and I’m not in it for you, Prince. I expect to be well paid. I’m in it for the money!”

Luke scoffed. He should have known. Han didn’t exactly strike him as a real revolutionary. It made perfect sense that he only cared about money. It was sad, because a part of Luke had hoped that he could be more than that. 

He stood, trying to make the fact that he was leaning on the table subtle. He didn’t want him to realize just how weakened he was. A prince didn’t show when he was weak; too many people were watching him for strength.

“You needn’t worry about your reward,” he replied, his voice like ice. He condescendingly patted Han’s cheek, making sure that his distaste showed up on his face. “If money is all that you love, then that’s what you'll receive!”

With that, Luke turned, intent on finding a different part of the ship without Han. He almost ran into Leia in the process. 

“Your friend is quite a mercenary,” he told her, glancing back at the pirate distastefully. “I wonder if he really cares about anything… or anyone.”

“Maybe he doesn’t,” Leia admitted drily, a ghost of a smirk traced across her face. “But he’s been useful.”

Luke almost laughed. He really liked this girl. Given time, he was quite sure they could end up being friends. And if she joined the Rebellion, maybe she could teach him about that way that she managed to get everyone to listen to her.

“We’re going to Yavin IV,” he called to Han without looking back. “Get us there quickly, there’s no time to waste. I certainly hope this rust bucket of yours can fly quickly.”

With that, he raised his chin and walked out of the room, heading down the hall to find somewhere he could lay down. 

 

As soon as the prince was out of earshot, Leia doubled over laughing. She really enjoyed seeing the prince throw insults like that at Han, who looked a stunned and insulted by having the two of the random kids gang up on him. 

“I think he likes you,” she teased, grinning. 

Han made an unintelligible sound of irritation, storming off to the cockpit. To pout about the prince being seemingly immune to his charm, Leia assumed. 

She paused for a moment, wondering where that left her. Grief tugged at her chest. Now that the action had momentarily stopped, the memory of seeing Ben get seemingly beheaded right in front of her flashed behind her eyes. It was strange, she had thought she even heard his voice telling her to run after he died. She took a deep breath, trying to push the sadness away. She couldn’t let it overtake her, not until this fight was over. If what she had heard from Luke was true, this wouldn’t be over until the Death Star was taken down. 

Letting out a shuddering breath, she abruptly turned on her heel, following the route that the prince had taken. Somebody should check on him. After all, she didn’t know if he had been injured at all in this whole situation, and she needed something to do to keep her mind from getting stuck on the immense loss that she had suffered.


	3. Prepare to Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Traveling back to Yavin IV all the way to just before the battle of the Death Star

When Luke thought about rescue while he was on the Death Star, he had imagined his father practically sending an entire fleet after him. He imagined strike teams, X-Wings, Rebel soldiers, and a whole host of very irrational thoughts that he knew in the back of his mind would never really happen. Still, they were comforting while in captivity. However, even his most normal ideas of rescue didn’t even hold a candle to how completely disastrous the Millenium Falcon was. 

He tracked down a hilariously meager first aid kit in a room with a few beds. It only had some bandages, a bit of healing cream, and for some reason, a screwdriver. It was truly the mark of a man whose only rational mind existed in his furry sidekick. 

Leia walked in, and he lifted up the screwdriver so she could see it. “What idiot puts this in a first aid kit? Where did you find this guy?”

Leia smiled faintly. “He was the only person on Tatooine with a ship that we could employ.”

Luke picked up the bandages and cream, knowing it was likely better than nothing, and sat down on one of the little beds nearby. 

He was actually glad to have some time with Leia alone. Obi Wan, Han, the Wookie, and the droids, he understood. They all had some rational reason for being here. He had asked for Obi Wan’s help, the smugglers were being paid, the droids had some wild form of extreme loyalty programmed into them, but what about Leia? She was the one piece of the puzzle that didn’t quite seem to fit. 

“And who are you, Leia Skywalker?” He asked, meeting her eyes. There was something oddly familiar about her, but he couldn’t quite place it. It was the strangest feeling. “How did you end up mixed up in all this?” 

She smiled distantly. “I ended up with your R2 unit,” she explained, moving over to sit on the bed beside him. “I took him to Ben, but while I was there, the Empire killed my aunt and uncle.” Her voice had grown very soft. “There was nothing left for me on Tatooine after that.” 

Sad sympathy wrapped around Luke’s heart. This fierce girl had lost so much in such a short time. She didn’t mention parents, so Luke assumed they were out of the picture too. Now her aunt, her uncle, and a mentor. It was a lot of grief for those small shoulders to bear. Likely she was trying to push it away, as he had tried to do so many times. Unhealthy? Absolutely, but they were likely going to do it anyways. He reached over, gently laying his hand on her own. 

“I hope you know that you’ll have a place in the Rebellion, if that’s what you’d like,” he told her gently. “I know nothing can replace your family, but maybe we can give you a different one.”

Many people who lost everything to the Empire had chosen to instead dedicate their lives to the Rebellion. A group of people all working towards the same goal, as well as a sense of purpose, tended to help them find some form of happiness again. 

Leia gave him a small smile, her dark eyes soft. “Thank you, Luke,” she said quietly. “It would mean a lot to me.” 

Luke smiled, squeezing her hand lightly before releasing it. It was moments like those that made him enjoy being a prince. A personal connection, having the ability to provide comfort and aid where it was needed. He wasn’t good at the large scale problems, like grandiose speeches or sacrificing fleets to take down a Star Destroyer, but little moments like these, actively helping people bit by bit, those were the moments he valued most deeply. He would miss that about being a prince. 

His smile faded at that thought, and he tried to focus on dealing with the burn. He had to tear away some of the fabric of his pants, which made his heart ache. He hated ruining his clothes, especially beautiful ones from Alderaan like this. But it was necessary, so he grit his teeth and yanked it away. 

“Here, let me help,” Leia offered. Grateful for the assistance, Luke propped his leg up beside her on the bed. He wasn’t good at first aid. There was always a ship doctor that he could go to, someone who was more well-equipped than having a screwdriver in the medic kit. Living in the barren outposts of Tatooine, Leia must have plenty of useful skills. She’d be a great asset to the Rebellion. 

For a few long moments, they sat in silence. Despite the fact that they hardly knew anything about one another, they didn’t really need to talk. They had mutual trust, especially after the experience of escaping the Death Star. Terrifying experiences helped people bond; Luke had seen it plenty of times in the Rebellion. Right now everyone was processing what had just happened, they didn’t need to talk quite yet. 

“Anything else?” Leia asked, interrupting his thoughts. He blinked, looking down. It took a moment for him to process that she was talking about before he realized that she was finished wrapping the blaster wound. She had either finished wrapping his leg really quickly or he had blanked out longer than he thought. 

“Just that, really,” he told her. It was half true, but nothing on this ship was going to help him get his strength back faster than it would naturally. Besides, if she knew how weak he felt, she might not trust him as much. Leaders were supposed to be strong for their people, right? 

She looked suspicious, like she could sense that something was wrong, but she let it go. For that, he was grateful. They talked a little more, mostly little things, like how stupid Han was, how disastrous the Millennium Falcon was. They needed something lighthearted, it helped deal with the fear of the last few days. 

The trip to Yavin IV would take almost a full day, even at light speed, so Luke had some time to catch up on sleep before having to face the Rebellion again, this time without his parents. At least now he was somewhere where he felt safe and comfortable enough to lay down without immediately feeling tense. With how exhausted he was, physically and mentally, he fell asleep right away, even on the cots that looked almost as terrible as they smelled. 

But as he slept, all the memories of the past few days rose to the surface of his mind.

He dreamed that the Millennium Falcon reached Yavin IV, only to find an asteroid field. He could see his friends and allies floating through space beside the destruction of the planet, the last tie of his family and their cause blown away just as his home was. He clapped his hands over his mouth to contain a shriek as he saw his father’s body float past the front window. 

Desperate to escape it, he backed away, ice wrapping around his ribcage. He stumbled backwards out of the cockpit, falling backwards and falling onto the ground. 

Then he was back in his cell in the Death Star, pain burning through his blood like fire as Darth Vader and Tarkin looked on coldly, indifferent to his pain. He could hear screams from the other cells, his family, Leia, Han, even Obi Wan. They had all been captured, tortured. He twisted in agony, panic racing through him. No, he couldn’t go back, he wouldn’t, and he couldn’t let the people who had risked their lives to rescue him get captured alongside him all over again. 

“Leave them alone,” he pleaded, his voice broken and weak. “Please, just leave us alone!” 

He couldn’t be back here, he would rather die than be back here. The terror mixed with the intensifying pain, ripping a scream from his throat. 

“Hey, your highness, your highness!” A voice pierced his nightmares. Hands grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. He shot to consciousness immediately, trying to push the person away from him. 

“Hey, easy!” A snappish voice pierced the fog of panic in his mind, making him blink several times. It took a moment to process that Han was leaning over him, holding Luke’s wrists in an attempt to keep himself from getting pushed away. 

“You okay?” He asked, his voice almost gentle. He slowly released Luke’s wrists, stepping back with his hands raised in surrender. “I could hear you screaming from the cockpit.” 

Luke drew in a shuddering breath, sitting up. His hands trembled, his face shiny with sweat. It had felt so real, the dream. Maybe because it was such a real possibility. The rational part of his brain knew that the Death Star moved notably slower than regular ships, so there was no chance of Vader and Tarkin beating them to Yavin IV, even if they figured out that’s where they were headed before they arrived. But the Rebellion could easily fall within the week. Then everything that Luke’s family had ever worked towards would really be gone.

“Your highness?” He heard Han ask again, and he abruptly realized that he hadn’t answered him, just stared into empty space instead. He had probably looked on the verge of throwing up, curling into a ball and crying, or both. 

“Yes, I’m fine,” he said quickly, rubbing his eyes. He wasn’t ready to cry in front of anyone yet. He just needed to get somewhere private on the Rebel base to sob for awhile before he could continue being productive.

“Nightmare?” The smuggler asked, taking a seat nearby. Despite the fact that he knew Han was trying to be kind, Luke just wanted him to leave so he could have his shame spiral in peace. 

“Take a wild guess,” he said bitterly. 

Han didn’t even look dazed by his rudeness. Being a pirate probably gave him thicker skin than the Senate officials. Most of them tended to be affronted by anything that could even be considered impolite. 

“Hey, it was just a dream,” he told Luke. For a moment, he fiddled his gun, pointing the barrel down at the floor. “They’ll eventually slow down, not hit you as often. For awhile your life’s gonna suck, but you’ll be okay.” 

The way he spoke made Luke realized that he must’ve dealt with some trauma too. After all, his life couldn’t be much easier. He was on the run from nearly everyone, it seemed. The Empire, the Republic, likely smuggling rings as well. In all that time, what had he seen? 

“Thanks, Han,” he told him, giving him a small smile. “I appreciate it.” 

The smuggler shrugged, waving a hand to brush away the sentiment. Seeing him so uncomfortable with a sincere situation was mildly amusing to Luke, as his father had always been very open with his emotions among his family. The Organa household was filled with open affection, but Han seemed like he enjoyed sarcastic barbs and witty banter far more than actual emotions. 

“Do you have a shower?” He asked, standing and running his hands through his hair. It was a greasy mess, and likely still had garbage in it from their dip in the compactor. Besides, he hadn’t gotten to freshen up in days. He felt disgusting. 

Han guided him to the ship bathroom, leaving him alone to clean up. 

As the water washed away all the sweat, grime, and garbage from the past few days, Luke’s mind drifted to the Rebellion. With his father gone, the Rebellion had lost one of their leaders. They still had Mon Mothma, along with the Alliance High Council, but Bail Organa had been an integral part of all the plans they made. Without him, the only leaders left on Yavin were General Dodanna and Commander Willard, both capable, smart men, but could anyone replace his father?

Luke wondered if they would all look to him to be the next Bail Organa, to make tactical decisions, safeguard Rebel secrets, and outsmart the Empire. Fear twisted his stomach. He couldn’t even handle the nightmares from the Death Star on his own, he had needed Han to wake him up. How could he handle the crushing weight of the expectations of everyone in the Rebellion? 

Bail Organa cast a sweeping shadow, both in the Senate and the Rebellion, and Luke had been fairly content to remain within it. He loved aiding the cause by following his father’s instructions. It was far easier to listen to someone who knew better than to try and come up with the right decisions on his own. Minor decisions were doable, but he couldn’t decide whether troops were worth the sacrifice to take down a Star Destroyer or not. He couldn’t be responsible for the choices between life and death like that. He would make a huge mistake, thousands would die, the Rebellion would crumble, and it would all be because he was a coward that would only be remembered as the boy who was too weak to handle any form of leadership. 

As his already sore knees slammed into the tile of the shower, Luke became aware that his breathing had sped up and hot tears were mixing with the water of the shower running down his face. He wrapped his arms around his stomach, struggling to suck in breaths as he huddled over on the shower floor. 

It had been years since Luke had panicked himself into an anxiety attack. But the terror of trying to replace his father in the Rebellion and pretend to be the strong leader for all the people looking up to him was almost as horrifying as the Death Star. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t. 

He ran trembling hands through his hair, trying to calm himself down. He needed to breathe, he needed to stop letting his mind panic about this. It wasn’t going to help anything. He definitely couldn’t afford to panic like this in front of everyone in the Rebellion. 

Luke shook his head, forcing himself to open his eyes. He couldn’t dwell on those thoughts. He needed to get out of this spiral. As he struggled to breathe normally, he glanced around him. He could see chips in the tile, water droplets running down the wall, a dark bruise on his leg, the half filled bottle of shampoo nearby, and the rusted drain. He could feel the water on his back, the cold tile beneath him, the pain of where he had been given the truth serum, and the slight ache in his chest that he always got during anxiety attacks. He could hear the splashing of the water, the rumble of the engines, and the sound of his breath beginning to slow down. He could smell the sandalwood of Han’s shampoo and the lingering smell of garbage coming from the drain. He could faintly taste the portions that he had eaten earlier. 

It was the grounding technique that his mother had taught him when he was young. He hadn’t used it in awhile, but he still remembered it. He slumped against the shower wall, sighing and closing his eyes. He couldn’t do this again. Hopefully, having an anxiety attack by himself was enough to get it out of his system. This way, he could focus on being strong in front of the Rebellion leaders. 

Rubbing his eyes, Luke forced himself to his feet. They would be arriving soon, and he needed to make sure that he looked functional on Yavin IV. 

“No more anxiety attacks,” he told himself quietly, shutting off the water. 

From now on, he had to be his father’s son. He had to be Prince Luke Organa, a leader. He wasn’t going to let anyone see the anxious child that he felt like, not anymore. He was going to be strong for the Rebellion. 

 

It was incredible, the difference that an hour and a change of clothes could make. Luke had sifted through a disastrous pile of clothes that Han let him borrow until he found a few things that weren’t covered in Wookie fur. It was far from the elegant white robes that he had expected to wear on his way to deliver the plans, but it was something. 

The black shirt and brown pants were simple, but Luke had managed to find a nice yellow jacket that he genuinely adored. He might give back the pants, as they were a little long on him, but there was no chance that Han was getting this jacket back. 

As they landed in the hangar, he stood ready at the ramp, taking a deep breath. He tried to channel the posture of Bail Organa in front of a crowd, straightening and throwing his shoulders back. When his hands trembled, he clutched them into fists to stop the shaking. 

An encouraging beep came from beside him, and he looked down as R2 gently nudged his leg. The kind gesture made him smile. The loyal little droid was one of the best members of the Rebellion; they were lucky to have him, cursing and all. 

“Thanks Artoo,” he told him softly. He straightened his jacket, raising his chin. I can do this, he reminded himself silently. 

As Han lowered the ramp, he was the first person to march down, with R2 right beside him. Leia followed shortly behind him, looking around with a half grin on her face. Han was less impressed with the Rebel stronghold, but Luke couldn’t care less about him right now. 

“Where is Commander Willard?” He demanded of the first soldier who greeted him. He didn’t even slow down, heading to one of the small transport units. 

“Waiting for you inside the Great Temple, your highness,” the man answered briskly. 

The transport couldn’t get them there fast enough. Luke’s leg bounced rapidly as they drove to the Great Temple, but that was the only outward sign of his anxiety, which he considered a win. Leia looked fascinated by everything around them, and peppered him with questions that he could only absentmindedly answer. She would fit in well here. 

Finally, he spotted Commander Willard ahead of them. He stood from the transport before it even stopped, hurrying over to him. The man was a good friend, and it was a relief to see someone that he knew well. As kind as his rescuers were, nobody could replace the people that he had known growing up. 

“You’re safe,” Commander Willard said, relief in his voice as he embraced Luke warmly. “When we heard about Alderaan, we feared the worst.” 

Pain passed across Luke’s face before he could hide it. 

“We have no time for our sorrows, Commander,” he told him as he pulled away. “You must use the information in this R2 unit to help plan the attack, it’s our only hope.”

“Thank you, your highness,” the commander smiled. His eyes were still concerned, as he knew Luke well enough and his closeness to his father. But he said nothing more, hopefully picking up on Luke’s attempt to be strong in front of everyone, which was a relief. 

“The battle station tracked us here, so we need a plan of attack as soon as possible,” he added. He gestured to Leia, who seemed more interested in a nearby X-Wing than the conversation. “This is Leia Skywalker. She’ll be joining the Rebellion, I trust her with my life. The other two will be needing payment for our travels here.” 

“Fifteen thousand, to be exact,” Han called, crossing his arms. Luke gave him a withering look. Despite how the man had helped him on their way here, he was already annoyed with his indifference to the Rebellion’s struggles against the Empire. 

“You’ll be receiving your reward shortly, Solo,” he snapped. “We have more pressing concerns right now.” 

“So do I, your worshipfulness.” Han scowled. “I need to–”

“You’ll be paid after the battle briefing,” Commander Willard interrupted, laying a hand on Luke’s shoulder. They turned away, moving towards the Alliance Intelligence headquarters. “I’m sorry to ask this of you in such a trying time, Prince Luke, but we will need a debrief of what happened on the battle station when you were captured.”

The request, however gently made, caused Luke’s heart to skip a beat. He was going to have to recall everything that happened during his capture, so that if anything had been revealed to him that the Rebels could use, they would be more prepared the next time that someone was captured. As essential as Luke knew it was, just thinking about it made him want to throw up the small amount of portions that he had eaten aboard the Millennium Falcon. If remembering all the details about his capture sent him into an anxiety attack, would anyone here respect him again? When they looked at him, all they would see was his weakness. He couldn’t do this, but he had to. 

“Prince Luke?” Commander Willard asked, and he abruptly realized that he hadn’t responded for a few moments. 

“Of course, commander,” he said, nodding firmly. Hopefully if he just acted confident, maybe whoever was recording his report would believe it. 

 

They arranged for the report to be recorded while Luke’s injuries were fixed up by the base doctor. He hadn’t imagined that he would have to discuss the worst experiences of his life with the Alliance leaders while shirtless, but here they were. 

“The last information we have of your ship was that Darth Vader had pulled you into a tractor beam,” an officer read from her display screen. “Is that correct?” 

“Yes,” Luke said, focusing on keeping his voice even. He stared straight ahead as he explained the mission, his mind going back to the moments before his capture and his primary interrogation. As much as Luke tried to hide the tension from his words, it was obvious that these were not good memories. His hands gripped the medical cot so tightly that his knuckles were white as he described the torture he experienced under Darth Vader. 

“I don’t know how, but I didn’t tell him anything,” he said, trying to shrug nonchalantly. 

“How is that possible?” Another officer asked, frowning. “The Empire’s truth serum has an incredibly high success rate.”

“I said, I don’t know how I did it,” Luke said defensively. His body was so tense that it took a few tries for the doctor to give him an injection, but he couldn’t relax, not on this subject. “It’s why they destroyed Alderaan.”

That shut everyone up. The destruction of Alderaan, as Commander Willard had explained to Luke, was news that devastated everyone in the Rebellion. It had killed many of their leaders and supporters, but just the Organa royals. 

Luke took a deep breath before continuing to explain that they had used Alderaan to force him to reveal the location of the base, but destroyed it even after he gave them Dantooine. 

“We had already abandoned the base,” Commander Willard said, nodding approvingly. “They found nothing there, your highness.”

Luke tried to smile at that, but it felt hollow. At least Alderaan’s sacrifice wasn’t for nothing, but he still would have done anything to get it back. He felt tears start to well up in his eyes, but he blinked several times, hoping to dispel them. Everyone else pretended not to notice, taking a sudden and intense interest in their information tablets. 

After taking a deep breath to try and get his emotions back under control, he continued explaining what had happened, relieved that the worst part of his memories were done with. The escape was easier to talk about, especially since he knew the others would share his suspicion about the ease of their escape, unlike a certain smuggler. 

“The Empire is not that incompetent,” he told them firmly, actually confident about this knowledge. “They wanted us to escape, I guarantee it, so they could track us back here.”

“We should attack as soon as possible then,” Commander Willard agreed. Another soldier entered the room, moving over to the commander and speaking quietly to him. “General Dodanna has prepared a plan of attack, we should get to the briefing room.”

Luke gratefully pulled his shirt back on as everyone left. The medic had given him something to help keep his strength up for a few hours, so a fair amount of the remaining weakness he felt from the torture had momentarily disappeared. Of course, it could take days to fully get out of his system, but for now, he was physically in much better shape. Emotionally, he was just happy he hadn’t cried in front of everyone. 

To his surprise, the Rebel leaders had him stand at the front with them, rather than just having him sit off to the side like he usually preferred to do. It was nerve-wracking, and he had a million questions as to why they suddenly wanted him there, but he tried to keep it to himself. He stood as tall as he could manage with his less than ideal height, folding his hands in front of him and trying to look professional. Leia was sitting alongside several of the Rebel pilots, standing out sharply in her dusty white farming clothes within a sea of orange jumpsuits. Even Han and Chewbacca were watching in the back, though the former was leaning against the wall and attempting to look disinterested with the whole situation. Luke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 

“The battle station is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the star fleet,” General Dodanna explained, gesturing to the display screen, which displayed the plans that R2 had been carrying. Luke had to admit, it was gratifying to finally see the results of all this sacrifice. “Its defenses are designed around a direct large-scale assault. A small one-man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defense.” 

“Pardon me for asking, sir,” Gold Leader said as he raised a hand. “But what good are snub fighters going to be against that?”

There was a quiet murmur of assent, which Luke had to agree with. When he first saw the Death Star, the sheer size of it was terrifying. It looked more like a moon than a manmade battle station. Along with that, he was one of the first to witness its power when he watched it destroy Alderaan. It seemed nearly impossible to defeat, but General Dodanna seemed confident, so Luke trusted him. 

“Well, the Empire doesn’t consider a small one-man fighter to be any threat, or they’d have a tighter defense,” he explained, and the image on the screen reacted to his words, zooming in on the details of the Death Star. “An analysis of the plans provided by Prince Luke has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station.” 

Luke’s cheeks flushed slightly at the mention of his name. He hadn’t expected them to give him direct credit for supplying the plans; he had only been one of dozens to work to safely deliver the information, and he had spent most of that time captured. Still, the tiny mention made him smile, made him feel a little more important. 

“The approach will not be easy. You are required to maneuver straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide,” he continued, oblivious to the murmurs of disbelief coming from all the pilots. “It’s a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station. Only a precise hit will set up a chain reaction. The shaft is ray-shielded, so you’ll have to use proton torpedoes.” 

One of the younger pilots, sitting beside Leia, shook his head. His name was Wedge Antilles, if Luke remembered correctly. 

“That’s impossible, even for a computer,” he protested. Leia elbowed him, giving him a condescending look. 

“It’s not impossible,” she told him firmly. “I used to bull’s-eye womp rats in my T-sixteen back home. They’re not much bigger than two meters.” 

Luke smiled her way, even as everyone focused on the General as he went through the final explanations of the attack plan. She would be a good influence here, so he should make sure she was given an X-Wing to join the fight. A little more lighthearted after seeing Leia be strong, he turned his attention back to the plans, just in time to hear the ending of his speech.

“Man your ships,” he said, nodding to the group. “And may the Force be with you.” 

With that, everyone stood, scattering to their respective battle stations. The Alliance commanders were firm; Luke would be with them, watching the fight from the command room. 

“But why?” He asked, frowning. He wasn’t necessarily upset, just confused. What about him was so important that they wouldn’t even let him fight? They were short-handed as it was, which was why Leia was given an X-Wing right away. Why not him? “The command room is only for the Alliance High Command and intelligence operatives.” 

The group of the commanders and generals were the only ones left in the debriefing room at this point. It made Luke feel very young. 

“Your father was a very important member of the High Command, you highness,” Commander Willard told him. A pang of longing tugged at Luke’s heart. He got that feeling every time his family and his home were brought up. He glanced down, folding his hands together in front of his stomach before meeting Commander Willard’s eyes again. 

“I know, sir,” he told him softly. Was this why they refused to let him participate in the attack? Had Bail Organa requested that his only child not be sent into direct attacks, so he would be able to keep him safe? Did he doubt Luke’s ability to defend himself so much that he didn’t want him anywhere near the big fight?

“His loss has left a significant hole in our council,” he explained, his voice gentle. “We believe you would do well in the position.”

Luke was grateful that the room was mostly empty, because those words punched him in the stomach. The High Council wanted him to join? They wanted him to take his father’s place in the highest command group in the Rebellion? But he was barely ranking as a member of the Alliance Intelligence, much less anywhere near the leader that his father was. 

“You want, you want me to… be on the, the high command?” He stammered, most of his leaderly facade wiped away by shock. This was even worse than the idea of his father ordering that he be kept out of the fight. This was facing an even bigger responsibility than being the king of Alderaan, it was the fate of everyone under the Empire’s rule. It made him want to throw up. 

“I know the responsibility is great,” the commander said. Luke wanted to choke out a laugh; he had no idea. “But your father spoke highly of your loyalty. Your story of your capture on the Death Star only proved that you have the bravery and strength to handle this position. With time, I believe you will become a good leader.” 

Luke let out a sharp breath, wringing his hands in front of him. They really thought that he was that important in the Rebellion? They thought he could be a good leader? What if he failed completely as soon as they asked him to make a decision? There was so much that could go wrong. 

His fear and hesitation must’ve showed on his face, because Commander Willard clapped him on the shoulder. Luke bit back a wince; his hand had landed directly on the bruises left by Darth Vader’s robotic hands. 

“You don’t need to accept right away,” he said, which made Luke relax fractionally. “We just believe that you should be in the command room during the attack to experience it from this end.” 

Luke couldn’t think of any valid reason to refuse, so he nodded silently and followed the commander out of the debriefing room, apprehension over both the battle and his future in the Rebellion mixing together in his stomach to make him thoroughly nauseous. 

 

Leia, on the other hand, was practically vibrating with excitement. This was what she had dreamed about her entire life. Thanks to Luke’s confirmation that she was trustworthy, she had been given a uniform and an X-Wing and she was going to be fighting the Empire firsthand. The constant action of her brief training and suiting up kept her moving, leaving her very little time to dwell on grief, which was certainly ideal. Unfortunately, as she headed towards her ship, she ran into Han and Chewbacca, packing up to leave. Something told her they weren’t just getting ready for the fight; they were running. 

“You’re really just taking the reward and leaving, hm?” She said, shaking her head as she walked up to him. It made her more upset than she would care to admit. Even in the short time that they had known one another, she considered him a friend, a good one. 

“That’s right, yeah! I got some old debts I’ve got to pay off with this stuff. Even if I didn’t, you don't think I’d be fool enough to stick around here, do you?” He moved a heavier box onto the transport card with a grunt, pausing a moment before he turned back to Leia, a softer look in his eyes. “Why don’t you come with us?” He suggested. “You’re pretty good in a fight. I could use you.” 

As much as she liked Han, Leia immediately shook her head. How could he not see what good they were doing here? This was important!

“Come on! Why don’t you take a look around?” She snapped, gesturing to the chaos of everyone preparing for a fight around them. She shot him an accusatory glare. “You know what’s about to happen, what they’re up against. They could use a good pilot like you. You’re turning your back on them.”

Han bristled at the anger in her words. “What good’s a reward if you ain’t around to use it? Besides, attacking that battle station ain’t my idea of courage. It’s more like suicide.” 

Leia’s jaw set, and she had to clutch her free hand into a fist to prevent herself from losing her temper further and snapping at him. 

“All right,” she said, her voice quieter. “Well, take care of yourself, Han. I guess that’s what you’re best at, isn’t it?” With that, she turned away, tucking her helmet more firmly under her arm as she started towards her X-Wing. 

“Hey, Leia!” Han called, and she turned around to face him, hoping that by some miracle she had changed his mind. But all he did was smile, a sincere look coming into his eyes for once. “May the Force be with you.” 

She knew that was a genuine attempt to reach out to her, a way of showing that he really did care, so she nodded slightly to him before continuing towards her ship. On the way there, she made eye contact with Luke, who was a shade paler than the last time she had seen him but otherwise looking much better. He was standing straighter, and managed to make even Han’s smuggler clothes look regal. 

He smiled slightly upon seeing her, turning and saying something to the Commander that they had greeted upon arrival before heading over to her. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked, looking down at her worriedly. 

She shrugged, glancing back where Han was packing. “Oh, it’s Han. I don’t know, I really thought he’d change his mind.”

“He’s got to choose his own path,” Luke told her gently. “No one can choose it for him.” 

He was talking about Han, but the words rang true for him as well. Without his father, he didn’t have anyone guiding him anymore. He was choosing his own place in the Rebellion. The Alliance Council couldn’t make that choice for him, it was something that he had to decide on his own. As terrifying as it was, he was in a position where he was a leader. The way that people, even Leia to some extent, were looking at him made him feel almost like a leader for the first time ever. After all, he had gotten the plans for the Death Star here, her had survived torture from the man who was terrified above all in the Empire, and he had held strong even in the face of losing his home, everything that had mattered to him. Maybe he did have the strength to choose this path, to choose being a leader. 

“What about you?” Leia asked, following the distant look in his eyes. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Luke said slowly, a small smile on his face as he glanced around the hangar. “I think so.” He paused, meeting Leia’s eyes again. “I just wish Kenobi and my family could be here.” They would be proud of everything that had been accomplished here. 

“Me too,” Leia replied, a touch of sadness in her eyes. Luke leaned down, gently kissing her on the cheek before moving away. As brief as the conversation was, it had helped a bit. He felt somewhat more ready to face the future, after talking to her. Something about her presence just made him feel stronger. He didn’t even feel like he was going to throw up anymore. 

Luke took his place in the command room, overlooking the electronic diagram of how long it would take the Death Star to come in range of Yavin IV. He took a deep breath, lightly setting his hands on the edge of the diagram. C-3PO stood beside him, overlooking the map as well. They were surrounded by the best tactical experts and leaders of the Rebellion, and while Luke wasn’t completely convinced that he belonged among them yet, it felt right to be here. 

In the same moment, Leia was settling into the cockpit of her X-Wing. As she took the controls, they felt right in her hand, almost as right as the handle of the lightsaber felt in her hand when Ben first gave it to her. Uncle Owen had always said that there was too much of her father in her, but that didn’t seem like such a bad thing right now. This was where she belonged. The challenge would be daunting, but she was ready to face it. 

In the same moment, as they both prepared for battle, Luke and Leia both hoped that their fathers would be proud of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that Leia was already canonically a member of the Alliance Council, but I'm focusing on Luke growing into that position throughout this fic so I adjusted it a bit :)


	4. The Battle of the Death Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia Skywalker goes in and takes no prisoners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry this took so long, but I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter! I know that the POV switches are a little wonky, so I apologize for that. I'll probably do one more chapter for the A New Hope storyline, then I'll move onto Empire Strikes Back. Happy reading!

Back on her home planet, Leia had been considered “The Terror of Tatooine,” a title that she was incredibly pleased with and had earned by fighting anyone and everyone who disrespected her. She was willing to throw hands up close and personal, during pod races, and occasionally by going after people in her T-sixteen. 

Now, she was going to get to personally fight the Empire, alongside the others in the Rebellion, and get some well earned revenge for Ben and her family. She grinned as she guided the ship out of the hangar, following behind the rest of the group. She had never flown an X-Wing before, but it was easier than she had expected. She controlled the movements as easily as if the ship was an extension of her own body. 

As she took off, she distantly heard a voice, as if someone was calling to her from a distance, but at the same time was right next to her. It almost sounded like old Ben. 

Leia, the Force will be with you. 

Leia frowned, tapping her headphones. That was odd. Ben was long gone, so she had to be imagining that voice. The strange thing was that she could have sworn that she had heard it, even though she was alone in the cockpit. 

Shaking her head to clear her mind of the confusion, she focused on the task at hand, aligning herself in the correct formation alongside all the other pilots. As they flew along, she spotted Biggs alongside her. He grinned broadly, and she returned the smile. They started flying on Tatooine together in their T-sixteens, and now they were together again, this time against the Empire. 

“It’s going to be just like old times, Leia,” he had told her back at the base. 

She couldn’t wait until they could talk after the battle, reconnect. They could be a team again, go on missions for the Rebellion together. It would be perfect. 

For now, they were going to fight alongside each other once more. She had made a bet with him that she could shoot down more ships than him. Whoever lost had to ask Commander Willard on a date in front of the rest of the Rebellion leaders, and Leia couldn’t wait to make Biggs do it. 

“All wings, report in.” 

As they left the atmosphere, all the pilots started checking in. Leia’s number was helpfully written in her cockpit, which was helpful as she had not been entirely paying attention during the meeting. Why the numbers weren’t in order was beyond her. She was Red Five, but she checked in after Red Eleven. It was stupid, and she planned on telling the Rebellion leaders as much when they got back. 

“Red Five, standing by,” she called, holding the microphone briefly as she spoke into it. 

“Lock S-foils in attack position,” Red Leader ordered, and everyone fell in line, unfolding their wings into the aptly named “X” position. Leia flicked her deflectors on as they passed through the magnetic field. 

She was the only one among the pilots who had seen the Death Star in person, so she rolled her eyes the gasps of horror coming from the others as the sight of the enormous space station. Yes, it was big, couldn’t they focus? 

“Look at the size of that thing,” Wedge gasped over the headset. 

“Shut up and focus, Wedge,” she snapped in response, not taking her eyes off the space station. She scanned it for responding Empire ships, but couldn’t see any launched yet. 

“Red Two, Red Five, cut the chatter,” Red Leader ordered. “Accelerate to attack speed. This is it, boys.” 

Leia briefly took her eyes off the Death Star to shoot Red Leader’s ship a glare, though she knew he wouldn’t see it. She told others to shut it, not the other way around. It might take some getting used to, taking orders from the squadron leaders. She had always been the boss among her friends on Tatooine. It irked her to not be immediately in charge. 

However, she had to respect the leaders and their strategy. They knew how to work as a team, dividing the jobs and trusting one another to get everything done. So, for the time being, she shut up and watched, absorbing the tactics they used and filing them away in her memory for later. 

The Rebel ships split off on the surface of the Death Star as green laserfire began fly past them. Leia wove back and forth. She craned her neck around, searching the space around her for potential TIE Fighters on her tail. If one of them got behind her, she would likely be screwed. Everyone was busy with their own jobs, she would have to defend herself. 

Satisfied that there was nobody behind her, she turned back forward, then shouted a curse word that would have gotten her grounded for a month back home. She hadn’t been paying attention to the ground ahead of her, and she had almost run into one of the Death Star guns. Luckily, she had veered aside just in time, expertly barrel rolling to the side. 

R2-D2 chirped his appreciation. This farm girl had a nasty vocabulary that almost matched his own; he approved. Her flying skills weren’t half bad either. 

“Was that the girl?” Another pilot asked in disbelief over the intercom. He was ignored as everyone focused on avoiding laser fire of their own. 

Scanning the surface of the space station, Leia spotted an area that looked particularly vulnerable. She dove downwards, grabbing the triggers for her guns.

“This is Red Five; I’m going in,” she called, squeezing the triggers and firing multiple shots down to the surface. To her delight, a giant fireball erupted from the surface. She grinned, pleased that she had managed to cause so much damage on her first try. 

“Leia, pull up!” Biggs shouted over the comms. 

Her eyes went wide as she realized she wouldn’t be able to pull up in time to avoid the fireball. Oh, she hadn’t thought about that. Yanking at the controls, she closed her eyes as her ship went directly into the fireball. A wave of almost painful heat went over the cockpit, the brightness of the orange flame visible even past her closed eyelids. Thankfully, she and R2 emerged safely, albeit a little scorched. 

“Are you all right?” Biggs asked worriedly. 

“I got a little cooked, but I’m okay,” she sighed, shaking her head as she opened her eyes. 

They were managing to avoid the fire from the turbo-lasers, as they were large and bulky. The Rebel ships were small and quick, easily moving out of the way and weaving around the exposed guns. 

“Watch yourself!” Red Leader warned. “There’s a lot of fire coming from the right side of that deflection tower.”

Leia glanced over towards the deflection tower. She was fairly close, she could handle that. 

“I’m on it!” She volunteered, not stopping to think about whether she should actually try this or not. The best way to find out was by doing. 

As she fired at the tower, a few other fighters dove down alongside her. One of them held the position too long, even as others warned him to pull up. He was blown away seconds after claiming that he was fine. 

Leia watched his ship melt away into the fireball, her breath catching in her throat. It almost seemed like a warning. If she wasn’t careful, that could end up being her. She couldn’t afford not to listen to the advice of the others. 

Taking a deep breath, she dove into a spinning dive. As she did, she heard Ben’s voice in her head again, firm and insistent. 

Leia, trust your feelings.

For a moment, she hesitated, her fingers set on the triggers of her guns, prepared to fire. Well, even if it was her imagination, maybe it could work out. She scanned the surface of the space station, her gaze lingering on a few key places. On instinct, she fired a few rapid shots, causing a few very satisfying explosions. 

Leia grinned. Perhaps Ben’s wisdom was still coming to her from beyond. If so, she found the advice quite helpful. 

Meanwhile, Luke was biting his fingernails nervously as he watched the screens in the control room. The Death Star was slowly but surely coming into range. The red blanket of safety coming from a nearby planet was thinning more every minute. Watching the screen made his anxiety kick into high gear, so he had resorted to pacing the room, looking at all the different controlling screens lit up around the room, regardless of whether he actually understood them or not. 

“Squad leaders, we’ve picked up a new group of signals,” a control officer said into his headset. Luke glanced over at him worriedly. “Enemy fighters coming your way.”

He looked back at the little specks of green marking the remaining X-Wing fighters, his heart squeezing. Hopefully Leia was still safe. He cared about all their pilots, but Leia was a good friend, and he wanted the chance to get to know her better. 

“Be safe,” he said quietly, only loud enough for him and C3PO to hear. 

Leia glanced around wildly, searching for the enemy fighters. “My scope’s negative, I don’t see anything!”

“Pick up your visual scanning,” another pilot advised. “Here they come!”

Luckily, none of the pilots immediately dropped onto Leia. Unfortunately, they found Biggs instead. 

“Watch it Biggs, you got one on your tail!” Red Leader warned. Leia spotted it right after, seeing the TIE Fighter drop right behind her friend. If it got a lock on him, at that distance, he was done for. 

As if to illustrate her point, another one of the pilots who had picked up a tail was shot and blown apart onto the surface of the Death Star. 

“I can’t see it!” Biggs cried. He wove back and forth, struggling to throw the other pilot off course so he could escape and continue fighting. The Empire pilot held on, keeping a steady distance between the two ships. “I can’t shake it!” 

“I’ll be right there!” Leia promised, coming up behind both ships. She watched her screen, carefully waiting for the moment that it would align with the circle that guaranteed a direct hit. Her fingers itched to fire right away, to protect her friend even if it gave away her position to the enemy fighter. She bit her lip, forcing herself to be patient. Waiting, waiting, until the perfect moment came. She fired, blowing the TIE Fighter away with a single shot. 

Right after her success, voices poured into Leia’s comms. 

“Pull in, Leia, pull in!” Biggs shouted. 

“Watch your back, Leia!” Wedge called at the same time. “Fighters above you, coming in!” 

Leia glanced over her shoulder and confirmed it, her heart sinking. She cursed. A few Tie fighters had followed her, likely because she managed to blow up one of their friends. She dodged from side to side as green lasers began to fire around her, hoping to dodge them by being unpredictable. It wasn’t good enough. A shot caught her starboard side, and she made a sound of frustration. 

“I’m hit, but not bad!” She called over the comms. “Artoo, see what you can do with it! Hang on back there.” 

Smoke was pouring past R2 into space, so it wouldn’t be easy, but that droid was too smart for his own good. He would manage. 

Luke listened over the comms, wishing that he had a better perspective of what was going on than just the comms and the tiny dots on the screen. It was nearly impossible to tell what was going on. 

“Red Six, can you see Red Five?” Red Leader asked over the comms. Luke’s eyes widened. Red Five was Leia’s call sign. Was she all right? Had she been shot down? Was it stupid of him to vouch for her? This was her first day in the Rebellion and he could have sent her on a suicide mission. Stars, he was an idiot. 

“There’s a heavy fire zone on this side,” Red Ten answered. “Red Five, where are you?”

For a terrifying moment, there was no answer, just silence. Luke was certain that he had lost his new friend already. 

“I can’t shake him!” Leia’s angry voice came over the comms, making him relax slightly. Thank goodness, she was still alive. On top of that, she sounded furious rather than afraid, so he was fairly certain that she was handling this situation better than he was, which was sad considering that she was at battle and he was in a comfortable control room. 

Leia wove back and forth, doing her best to shake off the pilot. Her teeth gritted in frustration, and her hands ached from clutching the controls so tightly. 

“I’m on him, Leia!” Wedge’s voice came through.

Leia really didn’t expect him to arrive quickly, so she didn’t respond, only redoubling her efforts to dodge and avoid the blaster fire around her. Wedge had his own things to deal with, and everyone was doing their best to stay alive on their own. She couldn’t rely on him to save her. She had never believed in that sort of thing. You want to be saved, you do it yourself. 

Unfortunately, her struggles to escape proved fruitless; this pilot was intent on shooting her down. She cursed darkly, weaving wildly in an attempt to throw him off. It was useless. He managed to stay on her tail no matter what she did. It was a miracle that he hadn’t hit her already. 

“Blast it Wedge, where are you?” She muttered under her breath. She hadn’t expected help, but it would certainly be welcome right now. 

As if in response, he practically appeared right in front of her, spinning around her and expertly shooting the TIE Fighter in a move that impressed everyone. She had no idea how he had managed that, but she was certainly grateful. It warmed her heart a bit, seeing the way that her teammates defended her. In the Rebellion, you really did have people to watch your back. She wouldn’t have to always save herself after all. She just had to save the boys so they were alive to return the favor. 

“Thanks Wedge!” She called, relief evident in her tone. She smiled a bit as she continued on her way, more able to focus on firing now that she wasn’t avoiding a TIE Fighter. 

“Red Leader, this is Gold Leader, we’re starting our attack run.” 

Leia watched the Gold Leader peel off from the group, diving towards trenches within the Death Star’s surface. Three more of the Gold squadron followed, likely for defense while the Gold Leader took the shot. 

“I copy, Gold Leader,” Red Leader responded. “Move into position.” 

“The exhaust port is marked and locked in,” Gold Leader said. 

Leia wanted to focus on him, to watch how he arranged himself to take the shot, but she forced herself to focus on the job at hand. Right now, she had to do some damage and possibly protect the Gold squadron from other TIE Fighters. Still, she kept an ear open, making sure she could hear whatever was going on with that situation. 

“Switch all power to front deflector screen,” Gold Leader ordered. 

They discussed logistics for a few moments as they set up the computers, noting the guns around them and the potential of enemy fighters. Leia tried to look around, scan the stars for large groups of ships, but she couldn’t see anything. 

Suddenly, she spotted a small squadron, three ships in such tight formation that they seemed like a single unit. They dove down towards the trench, where the Death Star guns had suspiciously stopped firing. That couldn’t be good. 

“Gold Leader, you have three marks coming in!” She warned. She didn’t want to get in the way of the rest of the squadron, so she focused on firing at the ship, doing damage. Maybe she could lure the enemy trio away from the trench. After all, did they realize their own weakness? Maybe the Empire didn’t know what the Rebellion’s target was. It was a small chance, but it was there. 

The three ships were too focused on the trench. They shot one of the ships down almost immediately. The space was too small, they couldn’t maneuver and escape the way that Leia and the others could do in the open space. The trench was too dangerous. She sensed that something bad was going to happen just as it did. 

The center ship in the trio shot down two more pilots in rapid fire. Leia shook her head, weaving around and destroying as many guns as she could, while they were hesitant to fire back with their own ships nearby. Whoever was piloting that center speeder, their aim was impeccable. She certainly didn’t want to face him in a fight. 

General Dodanna’s voice came over the headset. “Red Leader, this is Base One. Keep half your group out of range for the next run.”

“Copy, Base One. Leia, take Red Two and Three,” Red Leader responded. “Hold up here and wait for my signal to start your run.”

Leia wanted to argue, but bit her tongue. As much as she wanted to be in the action, she knew that they couldn’t risk losing everyone at once. It was the right strategic move. She pulled up, out of range of the guns alongside Red Two and Three to stay above the action for now. It would be frustrating, especially since she had friends diving into the action immediately. 

Instead, she let the others do their jobs in the trench as she scanned the stars for any other fighters. This was a good vantage point for a lookout. 

“Red Five, can you see the fighters from where you are?” Red Ten asked. Leia was a little pleased that they were turning to her for answers, but she didn’t have a good one at the moment. 

“No sign of any…” She trailed off as she spotted them, flying in a deadly triangle towards the trench. “Wait, coming in .35!” 

She longed to go after them, to take the enemy fighters out from behind, but she forced herself to hold her position. It was too close quarters down there, and the enemy fighters were talented. They would maneuver so she’d end up shooting one of her own. 

The two guarding X-Wings were taken out one right after the other. Leia bit her lip as she watched, hoping that Red Leader would be able to make the shot and end this fight before they lost anyone else. 

“It’s away!” He yelled triumphantly, pulling up just in time to avoid the resulting explosion. For a moment, Leia grinned, euphoric. Was that it? Did they succeed?

“Negative, negative.” All the joy had drained from Red Leader’s voice. He sounded tired. “It didn’t go in. It just impacted on the surface.” 

Now the particularly talented fighter was going after Red Leader personally. Leia watched, her eyes widening. It was too close. She pulled as close as she could manage, desperate to help. 

“Red Leader, we’re right above you!” She yelled. “Turn to–” She quickly checked her screen. “–.05! We’ll cover for you!”

“Stay there!” The man responded. “I just lost my starboard engine. Get set up for your attack run.” 

Leia understood what he was saying just at the moment that Red Leader was hit with green fire again. She opened her mouth to yell for him, but he was already pitched forward directly at the surface of the Death Star. He screamed as he went down, but it almost sounded happy, like he was proud to die if it served the cause. She glanced out her starboard window just in time to see him crash into the surface, exploding with a huge orange fireball. 

She let out a soft gasp, her chest constricting. Their leader was gone. All the leaders were gone. It was just the three of them now, against the three ships that had managed to take out nearly half their squadron. For a moment, she sat in stunned silence, unsure what to do without the orders. Everyone was gone. It seemed almost hopeless to think that she, Biggs, and Wedge could manage to do this on their own.

No. She was Leia Skywalker, the Terror of Tatooine. She had come to get her revenge, and no loss was going to stand in the way of that. 

“Biggs, Wedge, let’s close it up,” she ordered, her voice grim. She knew Biggs would recognize her tone. It was the one she gave them when there was no room for argument, when she expected to be obeyed without question. “We’re going in full throttle. That ought to keep the fighters off our back.”

“Right with you, boss,” Wedge responded immediately, aligning his ship beside hers. She gave a small, dark grin, even as her eyes focused with a deadly ferocity on the task at hand. That one caught on quickly. No questions, immediate obedience. She approved. 

She dove down towards the surface, Wedge right beside her. They spun down towards the trench. 

“Leia, at that speed, will you be able to pull out in time?” Biggs asked. Admittedly, it was rational, but she wasn’t letting that stop her. 

“It’ll be just like Beggar’s Canyon back home,” she told him. 

If he remembered that she had crashed her first speeder in that particular canyon, he was polite enough not to mention it. What her friends on Tatooine didn't know was that she had spent overt amounts of her free time back in that canyon, working again and again to master it. Mind, she hadn’t quite succeeded yet. On the day that the droids arrived in her farm, she had wanted new parts from Toshi station so she could try Beggar’s Canyon again. That hadn’t happened, but she supposed if she managed this now, it would be just as satisfying a victory. 

“We’ll stay back far enough to cover you,” Biggs told her. Once they entered the trench, he and Wedge gave her space. It wasn't even a question of who would take the shot. This was Leia’s job now. 

“My scope shows the tower, but I can’t see the exhaust port!” Wedge reported. “Are you sure the computer can hit it?”

Leia considered that for a moment, but her thoughts were interrupted by more blaster fire. She grit her teeth as she moved her targeting device into position. 

“Watch yourself!” She warned, glancing around for more TIE Fighters. “Increase speed full throttle!”

“What about that tower?” 

“You worry about those fighters, Wedge, I’ll worry about the tower,” she snapped. Would it kill him to stop interrupting? She had to focus. 

As she tried to bring the X-Wing into a good position to take the shot, laserfire nicked her wing, almost near the exact spot that she had been hit before. She cursed darkly.

“Artoo, that stabilizer’s broken loose again!” She said quickly. They had very little time. “See if you can’t lock it down!”

The laser fire suddenly stopped, making Leia’s stomach twist uncomfortably. She knew what that meant; the fighters were coming back. They had taken the others, more experienced pilots out so quickly. What chance did three kids have?

“Fighters coming in, .3,” Wedge reported, as if to confirm the ominous thoughts. 

Leia didn’t respond, struggling to keep her wavering ship stable. It wasn’t in the best of shape to make this kind of shot, but she had to try. The fighters continued firing at them, and a cry over the comms confirmed there was a hit. 

“I’m hit!” Wedge cried. “I can’t stay with you.” 

“Get clear, Wedge,” Leia ordered sternly. “You can’t do any more good from back there.” 

He apologized even as he pulled out. The kid was dedicated, certainly, but a suicide mission wasn’t going to help. Better to have at least one Rebellion member make it out. 

“Hurry Leia,” Biggs urged. “They’re coming in much faster this time.”

That made sense. These pilots were determined, they would take the risks of a faster run if it meant taking out Rebel attackers. Still, it didn’t help Leia’s stress as she focused on the perfect shot. 

“Artoo, try and increase the power!” She snapped, flicking switches in the cockpit as she flew. 

“Hurry up, Leia, quick!” Biggs said again. She knew it wouldn’t help anyone to yell at him right now, but she desperately wanted him to shut up so she could focus. It was hard enough keeping a shaky ship stable enough to make what was already a nearly impossible shot. She didn’t need the yelling. 

Right as the thought passed through her mind, there was an explosion behind her. Leia glanced back, her stomach dropping. No, it couldn’t… Biggs ship was gone, barely a flameball in the distance behind them. 

Leia let out a scream of anger and frustration, angry tears welling up in her eyes. No, her only friend from Tatooine left, her only connection to home, one of her best friends. Was the Empire never satisfied? What more could they take from her? Why did they take every piece of family that she had? Her hot anger blazed out powerfully through the Force, the strength of it even taking Darth Vader back for a moment. It made him hesitate on the controls, which likely saved her life. 

“The Force is strong with this one,” he murmured, yellow eyes narrowed behind his mask. 

She panted for a split second as she flew, blinking the angry tears away. No time for that now. She was the last functional fighter, and she was going to finish this mission. The anger and grief would be her fuel. 

She pulled up the targeting computer, glaring through it and watching as it calculated the distance for her. Waiting was agony, but she held back. She had once chance, and she couldn’t screw it up. 

Use the Force, Leia, Ben’s voice spoke again, shocking her. This was really happening. Somehow, Ben was using the Force to help her, advise her. She could feel his comforting presence, easing some of her fury and grief. It was like he was there beside her. 

Let go, Leia, Ben’s voice urged. Leia, trust me. 

And she did. 

Leia turned off her targeting computer, wanting to get it out of her way. It was stupid, reckless choice, one that could very well get her killed. So, right up her alley. 

The Rebel Base did not share the sentiment. 

“Leia, you switched off your targeting computer,” a voice told her over the comms. She rolled her eyes. Well, that was obvious, wasn’t it? “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing,” she said, barely paying attention to them. “I’m all right.”

She focused ahead, feeling out with the Force the way that Ben had taught her during one of their brief training sessions. She searched through it for the exhaust port ahead, trying to lock in on it with her feelings, rather than the computer, which had proven unreliable anyways. 

There was a robotic scream and an explosion behind her. She glanced back, her concentration broken. Oh no, not R2. He was in one piece, but barely. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. For the time being, he was out of commission. She was really on her own now, save for the disembodied voice of Ben Kenobi. 

“I’ve lost Artoo,” she told the base, despair beginning to claw at her heart. It was only a matter of time before the pilots got her too, they were too good. She had no chance of accomplishing this on her own, none. 

She pushed the growing fear away, desperate to focus. One shot, she only needed one good shot. 

Then out of nowhere, one of the enemy trio’s ships was blown away. Leia blinked. Who in the stars could that be? Wedge was out of commission and she was pretty sure everyone else was dead. 

“Yahoo!” A familiar voice cheered, yelling at the top of his lungs. Leia glanced up, beaming. The Millennium Falcon soared above them, manned by her favorite pair of smugglers. Her heart squeezed. Han had decided to come back after all, just in time to save her life. 

They knocked away both of the surviving ships, sending them both freewheeling into open space. Leia laughed giddily. The return of her friends made it so much easier to reach out with the Force. It was like there was an extra set of hands guiding her own, whispering in her ear when to fire, where to aim.

“You’re all clear, kid!” Han called. “Now let’s blow this thing and go home!” 

Leia didn’t even have to think. She just pulled the triggers. 

Instead of blowing up, she saw the torpedoes sink into the exhaust shaft. She sighed, a smug satisfaction rising up in her chest. 

That was how the Terror of Tatooine got revenge for her family. 

“Nice shot kid!” Han cheered from above her. “That was one in a million!” 

She pulled up the controls, soaring out of the trench and into the stars. Wedge and the Millennium Falcon, followed alongside her as they raced away from the Death Star, spirits soaring nearly as high as their ships. Wedge was whooping along with Han over the comms, the pain of their losses briefly pushed away for the sake of a much-needed win. 

As they neared Yavin IV, something in Leia’s mind nudged her to look back. Right as she glanced over her shoulder, the Death Star exploded in a bright, beautiful firework. There weren’t angry red flames, like there had been for the lost X-Wings, but instead glittering pale sparks that looked as celebratory as she felt. 

“Yes!” Leia shouted, punching victoriously at the sky. She immediately regretted the impulse when her hand hit the thick glass of her ship. She shook out her stinging hand, but it was still worth it. “Ow.” 

Back on Yavin IV, dizziness washed over Luke as soon as the Death Star blew. He gripped the edge of one of the counters, struggling to breathe for a moment. It was similar to the feeling of Alderaan blowing up, but with less of the bitter pain that he had felt. But he still heard thousands of voices cry out in death, felt the magnitude of the action. It was almost painful. 

He was trying to dispel the dizziness when loud cheers erupted from the room. The feeling of everyone’s giddy joy of success and survival made it easier for him to straighten, to come back to the present. 

Even if he didn’t completely realize it, he was still open to the Force. Because of it, he felt two strong presences, growing ever closer to him. His face lit up, and he dashed out of the control room in a sprint that was incredibly unprincely. 

He reached the hangar just as Leia was emerging from her X-Wing, pulling off her helmet to the cheers of everyone in the Rebellion. He shoved past all the others, smiling more brightly than he had in weeks. 

“Leia!” He shouted, crashing into her in a tight hug that would have rivaled his mother’s. 

“Luke!” She cried happily, hugging him back tightly and lifting him right off his feet. They laughed together, drunken in the euphoria of their success. 

“Hey, hey!” Han sounded more excited than Luke had ever heard him. Leia beamed at him, releasing Luke to wrap him in a tight hug that had to nearly crack his ribs. He still laughed, grinning down at the tiny brunette. 

“I knew you’d come back, I just knew it!” She told him, pulling away to punch his arm affectionately. 

“Well I wasn’t going to let you take all the credit and get the reward,” he teased, shoving her playfully. 

“Seems there is more to you than money,” Luke said with a grin. On impulse, he pulled Han into an equally tight hug. As much as he was annoyed with the smuggler most of the time, he had really saved them. 

For a moment, the three of them smiled together, bonded in their joy and success. Luke had never thought he could feel this happy, but he did. For the first time, he felt like he really belonged here. Beside Leia and Han, accomplishing great things with the Rebellion. Wild joy felt like it would explode out of his chest, and he beamed up at his friend. 

Their excitement was interrupted by the mechanical whirring. All of their eyes were drawn to the destroyed R2 unit. 

“Oh no,” Luke said worriedly. The poor droid was blackened and cracked, completely unresponsive. He looked nothing like the fiery little droid that Luke had given those plans to what seemed like so long ago. 

C3P0 waddled over, his gold arms waving around wildly in panic. “Artoo! Can you hear me?” He turned to Leia, panic in his voice. “Say something!”

“You can repair him, can’t you?” Leia asked one of the technicians, moving over to lay a hand on R2 fondly. 

“We’ll have him fixed up in no time,” the man promised, smiling shyly. After all, he was facing the hero of the Rebellion. Leia was confused for a moment, looking at the admiration in his face. Then she turned around, realizing that everyone was looking at her like that. They were cheering and excited, but eyes turned to her with shock and reverence. 

Then Han clapped her on the shoulder, surprising her out of the brief daze and drawing her back into reality. She laughed, grinning up at him. Luke practically glowed with happiness, smiling at them both with more light in his eyes than they had ever seen. 

“Look at you two,” he told them, stepping closer. “You’re our new heroes.”

Han grinned, a smug look coming back over his face. Oh, they were never going to hear the end of that. He was going to keep that mantle for the rest of his life. Leia shoved him, rolling her eyes. 

“We’re the new heroes,” she told Luke, throwing an arm around his shoulders. 

For a moment, Luke looked unsure, but as Leia held his gaze, it became very clear that she wasn’t taking no for an answer. Instead, he just smiled. Han threw an arm around Leia, and the three of them made their way out of the hangar together.


	5. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The medal ceremony and MORE angst with some fluff

After the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Intelligence Operatives estimated that they had nearly a week before the Empire reinforcements arrived at Yavin IV. Nobody expected that a bunch of little X-Wings could destroy such a massive space station, so any military response was too far away or too disbelieving of the reports to immediately take revenge on the Alliance. They would certainly need to evacuate, but they had a little bit of time first. Just enough, it seemed, for a ceremony honoring the heroes of the hour. 

The members of the Rebellion gathered in the Grand Temple, everyone wearing their official uniforms and lined up in rows. Luke stood with the rest of the High Command on the stage at the front of the temple. He finally felt like himself again. He found Alderaanian clothing, freshly washed so it even smelled like home. The suit was very reminiscent of his father’s preferred clothing style, down to the soft, heavy cloak draped over the shoulders. It was the perfect thing to wear for the ceremony today, especially since Like had been given the role of handing out the medals. His hair was freshly combed, shining brightly blonde in the pale light of the temple. 

The doors at the opposing end opened, and three heroes emerged. 

Han, as Luke honestly expected, had simply buttoned up his shirt and called it formal wear. At least he had washed the clothing, so it wasn’t stained with various substances anymore. He seemed happy with it, and even more happy with the positive attention of the Alliance as he walked towards the stage. 

Chewbacca practically glowed. Apparently he had showered, which had the unfortunate side effect of hopelessly clogging up all the drains, but at least he looked nice. 

Before the ceremony, Luke had found some of Mon Mothma’s formal robes, gifting them to Leia, who seemed delighted to have something nice to wear. The white robes flowed beautifully as she walked down the pathway, her head held high. Her brown hair was pulled back into a long braid. She looked serious and commanding, which was amusing next to Han’s seemingly permanent smirk. It reminded Luke of what seemed like ages ago, when Han had claimed that Leia was the brains of the operation. 

Because this was a very important ceremony, Luke fought back his smile as long as he could, trying to portray the formal calm of a prince. But when his friends stopped a few stairs below him, he caught Leia’s eyes and couldn’t hold back the smile, warmth rising up in his chest. He was so proud to be giving her this medal. His grin seemed to break her serious facade, and she beamed back at him. 

Remembering the task at hand, he turned back to pick up one of the three medals, unfolding the fabric and stepping forward to place it around Chewbacca’s neck. The Wookie had to bend down so that Luke could reach, but he roared with happiness as he straightened, the gold medal shining against his fur. Han laughed at the way that half the people in the room jumped at the sound. Luke would have tried to shush him, but he couldn’t right now. It was their moment, after all. 

He picked up the second medal, draping it carefully around Han’s neck. As the smuggler straightened, he winked at Luke, which made butterflies flutter in his chest. He fought to keep a straight face, but his cheeks flushed slightly. Han’s grin made it clear that he had noticed. Luke wanted to shake his head. That stupid pirate. 

Leia’s heart pounded with anticipation as Luke picked up the final medal, struggling to keep still. She bowed slightly so that he could place it around her neck. It was heavy, but in a good way. She grinned wickedly up at Luke, feeling like she could explode with pride. She had earned this, all on her own. No longer a moisture farmer, but a hero of the Rebellion, destroyer of the Death Star. Soon, maybe even a Jedi. Her eyes shone with happiness. 

Luke could feel the joy radiating off of his friends, and it made it even harder to try to maintain a serious face for the ceremony. He managed to smile graciously as the three of them bowed to him, nodding politely. They turned to face the rest of the Rebellion, who responded with thunderous applause. 

The trio beamed at the crowd, happy to bask in the joy of their success and the appreciation of their peers. It was the happy ending that they all had hoped for.

 

But not everything was so picturesque, especially not in the Rebellion. The celebration roared, but ghosts lurked in the shadows. They had lost so many people, after all. The price of their victory was high; so many experienced pilots, friends, had been lost. Some people tried to drown themselves in the celebrations to avoid thinking about the losses. Others were beginning to pack up the base, hoping that work would give them a purpose. 

Being the hero, Leia couldn’t escape being the center of attention. All the survivors wanted to compliment her, pat her on the back. A few brave souls tried their luck asking her out and were quickly and brutally put back in their place. 

Han stood off to the side, idly drinking as he watched person after person get rejected by Leia. He shook his head pityingly. Didn’t any of them understand that, despite her porcelain looks, she had a temper that matched Darth Vader? 

Chewbacca found his own entertainment. The children living on the base had decided that he was the coolest new addition to the Rebellion, and spent the whole night crowding around him eagerly. Han noticed that one of the little girls, currently sitting on Chewie’s shoulders, was also wearing his medal. 

“You big softie,” Han muttered, shaking his head. But he was smiling. Chewie had a soft spot for kids, and it seemed to be working in their favor at the moment. Little ones needed a distraction from all the death around them. 

The person that Han couldn’t seem to spot, no matter how hard he looked, was the young prince. The last time that he had seen Luke was during the medal ceremony, and that was hours ago. Frowning, he finished his drink and put down the glass, heading off in search of his friend. He had grown tired of the party anyways. 

He wandered around the base, finding people packing up equipment, couples kissing in dark corners, and the quiet, abandoned rooms of the dead. The latter was somewhat depressing, and he was about to give up when he pushed open the last door. 

It was a smaller room off the Grand Temple, probably a place for quiet reflection. He wasn’t entirely sure what was in there. It was quite dark. The only light in the room was the pale blue of the holograms moving about. 

Han stepped inside, carefully closing the door behind him. His heart ached a little at the sight in front of him. 

Prince Luke had changed out of his ceremonial outfit, wearing soft white robes instead. He was sitting cross legged on the concrete floor, facing away from Han. R2 was beside him, the small projector on his dome lighting up the room. A man and woman that Han didn’t recognize were moving around in the image, smiling. As he walked quietly over to Luke, a small boy appeared in the hologram, laughing with joy as he was swept up into the arms of the man and tossed in the air. 

Understanding dawned. It must have been Luke’s family. After all, Alderaan had been destroyed, with the royal family and almost the entire civilization with it. They had all lost people in this fight, but few people had lost as much as the prince. 

“When was this?” He asked quietly, taking a seat next to Luke on the ground. Luke jumped, blinking over at him in surprise. It seemed that he had been too lost in memories to even notice Han’s arrival. He quickly brushed his sleeve over his face, attempting to hide the tears that Han had already seen. There was a long moment of quiet broken only by the occasional sniffle before he could answer. 

“At least ten years ago,” Luke said softly. “We were getting ready for an Alderaanian celebration. It only happened every few years, and I was so excited. We spent the whole night together, watching the parades and fireworks.” 

His voice was tight, but the fond look in his eyes told Han that these were still good memories, in spite of the loss. He watched the younger man for a moment, sympathetic to his pain. They hadn’t known one another long, but the prince was charming. He was genuine, and seemed to believe deeply in everything that he stood for. That kind of faith was something that Han had never witnessed, much less experienced. 

“Looks like you had a good relationship with them,” he observed, watching the woman carefully arrange young Luke’s hair into an intricately woven braid. 

“They were always there for me.” The words were quiet, but they meant a lot to Han. All his life, he really never had any parental figures who looked after him. There was Chewie, but Chewie was his friend, not a mentor. Luke seemed like he looked up to his parents, like they were the kind of family that you only saw in stories: supportive, caring, warm. 

The silence stretched between them. They watched the recording of the family until it ended, and the happy blue figures faded out of sight. Luke sighed, turning to R2-D2. 

“Are there any more recordings with my family, Artoo?” He asked hopefully. 

The droid beeped, then another projection began to play. This one was smaller, just the image of an older bearded man, looking earnestly at them. His clothing looked very much like those that Luke seemed to prefer. The side of Han’s mouth twitched. Like father, like son. Oddly enough, no matter how much he studied the man’s face, he couldn’t see any real resemblance to Luke. The only real similarity he could see was in their clothing style. 

“Commander Willard.” Bail Organa’s voice was deep and commanding, but weary with grief. “I have just heard the news that the entire crew of the Tantive IV has been killed.” 

Luke’s face paled, and he shot R2 a look mixed with shock and anger. “How did you get this?” He demanded. 

The droid beeped, explaining that he had downloaded several transmissions from the computers of the rebel base when they plugged him in to download the schematics of the Death Star. Han shook his head. If left unsupervised, R2 would probably figure out how to take on the Empire all on his own. He was a sneaky little trash can. 

Luke’s eyes returned to Bail Organa’s holographic face, fixating on it with reverence. It seemed a little spooky, to Han. After all, Luke was literally staring into the face of his dead father. 

“I don’t believe the reports,” Bail Organa continued, his voice firm. “The Empire must have overtaken them, trying to get the schematics for the Death Star back. If so, they may have taken my son–” his voice faltered, for the first time. “–They may have taken Prince Luke prisoner, likely to interrogate him about Rebellion plans. I know that you may have had some doubts about him, but don’t let his age fool you. My son is strong, and he is completely loyal to the Rebellion. He will tell them nothing, I swear it.” 

Han glanced over at the prince in question. His hands were clapped tightly over his mouth, his eyes shiny with unshed tears. He didn’t move, completely fixated on the message in front of him, something he was likely never meant to see. 

“I will join you at the base as soon as I can,” he continued. “For now, I must remain on Alderaan with my wife. After the news… she is distraught. May the Force be with you.” 

The transmission ended, leaving them in shocked silence. Glancing at Luke, Han’s heart squeezed. Tears ran freely down his face. His shoulders hunched, and he seemed to collapse in on himself, a sob barely escaping past his hands. 

Automatically, Han reached out, pulling Luke close and gently wrapping his arms around him. Luke leaned his head against his chest, his shoulders shaking with repressed sobs. Han was unsure what to do at this point. It had been clear that the kid needed a little support, even if he was a prince. But after the hug, what exactly was he supposed to do? What should he say? 

“I’m sorry, your highness,” was all that he could find for a moment. With nothing better to say, nothing that could really make Luke feel better, he just opted to continue holding him for a little longer, just as long as he needed. 

They stayed like that for a long time. The prince cried for some time, but his breaths slowly grew more even. He shuddered a few times in Han’s arms, but made no attempt to straighten or pull away from his grasp. In fact, he seemed to appreciate the embrace, which made Han feel a little less awkward. It was nice to have a little confirmation that he hadn’t completely screwed up in his impulse decision to hug the prince. 

Finally, Luke sighed, adjusting himself against Han so he was just leaning against his chest, rather than completely collapsed against him. Han was a little surprised that Luke apparently still wanted to lean against him, but he awkwardly adjusted so that they would both be comfortable. He wasn’t opposed to the closeness, just surprised and very confused as to what this meant. 

Han had assumed that Luke just didn’t like him. Upon first meeting, it was clear that Luke only thought of him as a self-involved smuggler. They snapped at one another constantly. He had clearly warmed up to Leia quickly, but didn’t seem to share the sentiment with Han or even Chewie. 

Then again, it wasn’t like he had made much effort to reach out to the prince himself. He had made sarcastic comments right from the start, even though Luke was clearly in bad shape, physically and emotionally. Just before they got on the Falcon, he was worried that the prince was going to pass out, he was so pale. So maybe he needed to make a little effort if he wanted Luke not to hate him. 

“You okay?” He asked quietly, glancing down. From here he could only really see Luke’s hair, so it was hard to gauge his emotional state. 

Luke took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Not entirely.” He didn’t sound like he was on the verge of tears anymore, so hopefully he had gotten most of that out by this point. “But I remember what you told me. Life will suck for awhile, but it’ll get better.” 

Those words surprised a short laugh out of Han. He didn’t think that their brief conversation had stuck with Luke so much. Then again, he was a politician; a good memory was probably important. 

“I know it doesn’t feel like it’ll get easier, but it does,” he assured him, squeezing his shoulder lightly. “Eventually.” 

Luke was quiet for a long moment, so long that Han wondered if he had said the wrong thing. Hopefully Luke couldn’t hear his heart beating ridiculously fast. He didn’t want him getting the wrong idea, like he was nervous or something. 

“I don’t know if I want it to get easier,” he finally said. Han blinked. What the hell did that mean? “I mean, I don’t want to forget that it happened, or push it away to the point where I barely remember my family.” 

Han snorted, rolling his eyes. Luke tensed, turning to look up at him with narrowed eyes. 

“You’re not going to forget them,” Han said, trying to backpedal and explain himself. He didn’t want Luke to think he was making fun of him, especially not right now. “Look, they were your parents, your culture. You couldn’t lose that if you tried. It’s a part of you, just like they are.” He raised a hand, lightly resting it on Luke’s shoulder. “Just because pain gets easier doesn’t mean the memories disappear.” 

Luke’s blue eyes became less accusatory, softening in thought. A knot of worry eased in Han’s chest, seeing that. His sharp look was a little frightening; it almost reminded him of Leia, oddly enough. A small smile traced across Luke’s face, which was a welcome sight after seeing him cry. 

The warmth in Han’s heart seemed to rise even further, turning to a flush that crept up his neck. He was half worried that Luke would see it even in the dark of the room, since they were so close. He had gotten the same feeling earlier, while Luke hung that medal around his neck, but it felt stronger this time. Luke just lit up whenever he smiled; it was beautiful. That thought didn’t make the blush ease any. The warm happiness was interlaced with nervousness; he had absolutely no idea how to handle emotions like this. 

“I didn’t think you were capable of being so nice, smuggler,” Luke said, a note of teasing in his voice. Han scoffed, rolling his eyes. Stupid kid definitely picked up on his discomfort. Little rat.

“Careful, your worshipfulness, you might lose your backrest,” he grumbled, wishing that he could just will the redness in his cheeks away. 

Luke only laughed. When he leaned back against Han, it almost seemed like he was intentionally cozying up to him further. Maybe he just wanted to embarrass Han as much as possible. Han rolled his eyes. Great, at this rate Leia and Luke were going to bond over driving him mad. He could only imagine what his life would be like if he continued to hand out with these little twerps.

But as much as his mind grumbled, he wasn’t mad, not really. With Luke leaning against him like this, the quiet of the room around them, it was the most at peace that Han had felt in a long time. If the future had moments like this, he would actually be very much looking forward to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay!! That is the end of my "A New Hope" Prince Luke Organa fic, I hope you liked it :) I'm sorry that this took so long, trying to finish it was real hard so I kinda just spent 20 minutes finishing it up and publishing just to get it DONE. I may or may not do the rest of the original trilogy, I don't know if I'm feeling it but let me know if that's something you'd really really want! I think doing Empire would give me an opportunity to focus more on Leia being a badass, so I do like that. That being said, thanks for reading, I hope it was a good ending for everyone. Thank you!!


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